Discount store “The Dollar Tree” is to open next month in the old Salvation Army location in the Fiesta Plaza. Ryan lely/Sonoma Valley Sun
There’s already plenty of buzz about the Dollar Tree store coming to The Springs, and the sign isn’t even up yet. The discount variety retailer sells all sorts of things – food, toys, housewares, toiletries, gifts, party supplies – and everything’s $1. Everything. No wonder so many locals have been driving over to Rohnert Park or up to Santa Rosa to shop at one of the four Dollar Trees already operating in Sonoma County. Now, more dollars will stay in town when the national chain opens here next month.
The new store will occupy an 11,250-square-foot space in Fiesta Plaza that once housed The Salvation Army Thrift Store. Many had hoped that Trader Joe’s would move into the long-empty storefront. However, leasing agent Jerry Suyderhoud of Orion Partners said that TJ’s was contacted, but they had no interest in the site.
Dollar Tree is a publicly traded corporation with stores in all 48 contiguous states. (Its stock symbol is DLTR on the Nasdaq.) According to the company’s Web site, it’s the country’s leading operator of single price-point dollar stores. As of November, the chain had a whopping 3,400 stores nationwide. Its management looks for sites in shopping centers that are highly visible and have strong traffic counts, stating that they want to be where middle America shops or lives. Their philosophy is “bright stores, big signs and a clean delivery.”
Remodeling is underway and is expected to take five to eight weeks, according to Deborah Dill of Oklahoma-based Hardcastle Construction, which is doing the work. Dill said her crew are on the road for several months a year doing these remodels, and they’d just finished a store in Santa Cruz before coming to Sonoma.
While the construction company is from out of town, the new store’s assistant manager is from Sonoma. Dollar Tree has hired Candace King, who is a partner in All About Cakes and Partys (which will close its doors by Feb. 1). King is now undergoing Dollar Tree’s four-week corporate training program in Vallejo. She said that the company is seeking two more assistant managers and about 20 other employees for the store. “My goal is to make sure that we try to hire local people,” said King.
Martha Ulloa, who owns Carniceria Chapala, the market next door to Dollar Tree, thinks that her new neighbor is going to be very good for business. The Ulloa family has done some remodeling themselves, adding new racks and flooring in anticipation of increased foot traffic. Her son, Carlos Ulloa, said Dollar Tree will bring more people and more choices to the center, adding that he hoped it would enable them to reach out beyond the Latino community. “We’re getting prepared for that,” he said. As an example, Ulloa cites Chapala’s carne asada; it’s one of their most popular items with their non-Latino customers, so Ulloa is adding more carne asada options to his already extensive meat selection.
Paco Villaseñor, branch manager of Banco de Sonoma in Fiesta Plaza, is looking forward to the Dollar Tree opening as well. “The new store will attract more new customers to the area, and we welcome them with open arms,” he said.
No word, though, on how the new tenant will affect Dollar Store and More, a smaller discount store that occupies one of the front spaces in Fiesta Plaza. Store owner Carmen Martinez is in Mexico and could not be reached for comment by press time.
A vacant 1,200-square-foot space in Fiesta Plaza that used to be a laundromat may also be leased soon. Orion Partners’ Suyderhoud said that a clothing and shoe store is interested in the space. Another possibility is a food-oriented business, but according to Suyderhoud, it won’t be a laundromat again. The owners are looking for a more upscale use now that they have a nationally known anchor tenant.
Update on La Morenita
Construction continues on the all-new La Morenita #2 Market on Sonoma Highway across from Mountain Avenue. It should be finished by April, according to owner Alfonso Gonzalez. The new store will be 3000 square feet, roughly three times the size of the original La Morenita that was on the site before, and the large new parking lot will fit 50 cars. Casanova Construction of Vallejo is the general contractor on the job.
The market will carry meat, produce and other grocery items, and provide services such as check cashing, money transfers and bill payments. They will have eight employees, said Gonzalez. He and partner Everardo Rubio own two other markets – La Morenita #1 in Napa and La Morenita #3 on Highway 12 at Calle del Monte in The Springs.
