First it was HomeTown Buffet. Now it’s Arby’s.
Within the span of five months of each other, both national chains essentially ghosted the North State, abruptly closing without notice.
Wendy Zanotelli, executive director of the SMART Business Resource Center, said she heard about Arby’s closing in Redding and Anderson on Facebook through the Redding Restaurant Reviews group.
She commented under the postabout the services SMART offers to displaced workers. SMART also posted a notice at the closed restaurant in Redding.
Typically, a company will notify the state that it plans to close, and then the California Employment Development Department will reach out to agencies like the SMART Center.
“We partner with the EDD. ... HomeTown Buffet and Arby’s are the first two I have dealt with that have closed that way,” said Zanotelli, who has been SMART executive director since last spring.
The SMART Center, too, has reached out to Arby’s but has not received a response, as has been the case with HomeTown Buffet, Zanotelli said.
Over the course of the last two weeks, I sent emails and left two phone messages with Arby's and have not heard back.
Arby’s in Redding and Anderson closed in December.
“We had no prior knowledge,” Anderson Assistant City Manager Liz Cottrell said of Arby’s closing in her city.
Meanwhile, Zanotelli said SMART offers several resources to help displaced employees. SMART will even go to the business to counseland help workers.
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“Victor (Treatment Centers) is a great example,” she said.
When Victor announced in December it would close six group homes in Shasta County, the company contacted SMART.
“We did two orientations with them, gave a presentation to all the employees and signed them up for our services,” Zanotelli said.
SMART will pay to retrain displaced workers, help update a person’s resume and provide counseling and advice.
What’s more, SMART offers qualifying businesses, incentives for hiring displaced employees.
Among other businesses closing in the North State that SMART connected with were Dress Barn in Anderson and Lane Bryant in Redding. Dress Barn closed late last year, and Lane Bryant is expected to close Jan. 26.
“We have a lot of retail coming in as well, so hopefully there will be opportunities to get employees placed pretty quickly,” Zanotelli said.
Save Mart, Sprouts Farmers Market, HomeGoods, Mountain Mike’s Pizza and Chick-fil-A are among the chains expected to open in Redding this year.
Fence going up around shuttered Shopko
The city has taken notice of the eyesore the vacant Shopko store on Lake Boulevard has become since it closed last year.
Redding Code Enforcement Supervisor Steve Willkomm told me a temporary fence will soon go up around the building to help stem the flow of garbage that’s piled up around the property and deter loitering and camping.
Shopko closed last May, and then the building failed to sell at a public foreclosure auction in late November.
Willkomm said an out-of-state investment company owns the building.
“They are not local. However, I made the appropriate notice to them about the city’s concerns,” he said.
Local contractor Brent Henderson told me he's been working with a bank in Texas to get the property ready for sale.
Henderson of Tri-Shasta Construction said he's beyond frustrated dealing with trespassers, vandalism and other issues that have plagued the property. He doesn't believe the city and law enforcement are doing enough.
Henderson was on the property Friday afternoon taking down the Shopko letters from the front of the building. Landscapers were there, too, trimming hedges.
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"They've taken over our town," Henderson said of the people who've been trespassing on the property and leaving their garbage.
On Thursday, Henderson said somebody pulled a knife onhimafter he told the individual he shouldn't be there.
Henderson said a 6-foot, chain-link fence will be installed and should go up within two weeks.
Willkomm believes the investment group is committed to cleaning up the property.
“So, I expect very soon to start seeing some changes,” he said.
Also, the city is working to get the owners to sign a consent to enforce order, so law enforcement will have the authority to remove trespassers.
Mountain Mike’s Pizza could open in February
I recently visited the new Mountain Mike’s Pizza on Churn Creek Road and spoke to the father-son franchisee team that will run the business.
Harnek Athwal, who’s owned and operated a Mountain Mike’s on Watt Avenue in Sacramento for about 30 years, told me the goal was to open in December, but setbacks have pushed the date back.
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Now Athwal is shooting for February.
Athwal and his son, Harpreet, will operate and manage Mountain Mike’s return to Redding. Work continues to repurpose the old Upper Crust Pizza, which closed last fall after a nearly 40-year run.
Harpreet was 8 when his father, with his brother, Sukhvinder, opened their Mountain Mike’s in Sacramento. Sukhvinder has since retired from the business.
Up to 12 beers on tap and 15 TVs will be among the features at the Mountain Mike’s in Redding.
Mountain Mike’s had a location here in the 1980s in the Cobblestone Shopping Center on Hartnell Avenue.
Chamber wants feedback on sales tax measure
In less than three months (sooner for mail-in voters), Shasta County voters will get to decide whether raising the sales tax a penny for every dollar spent is a good strategy to help solve what many consider a public safety crisis.
Measure A is on the March 3 California primary ballot.
Now, the Redding Chamber of Commerce wants to know ifsome 850 members will support the tax.
On Wednesday, the business advocacy group emailed a survey to its members.
If Measure A passes, here’s where the money would go:
- 55% would go to jail construction, jail operations and inmate programs.
- 32% would go to public safety programs in the unincorporated areas and in the cities of Redding, Anderson and Shasta Lake.
- 12.5% would go to programs and staffing for the Shasta County District Attorney's and Public Defender offices.
- Half of a percent would pay for an annual audit.
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The chamber’s political action committee will meet Jan. 21, and chamber President Jake Mangas expects the business advocacy group to announce its stance on Measure A by the end of this month.
“I mean, we wanted to get the survey out in time for people to respond and for the PAC and the board to make a decision before the ballots go into the mail,” Mangas said.
At least one Redding businessman isn’t waiting for the chamber’s guidance.
Don Ajamian of Don Ajamian Construction posted on Facebook that he supports Measure A.
“We have the opportunity to fix locally what the state has dumped on us. It's our investment in our future. I will be voting yes on this measure even though I have never voted in favor (of) a tax measure before this,” Ajamian writes.
Because it’s a specific tax, it will need two-thirds’ voter approval.
Stay tuned.
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David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column.He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, coverbreaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-225-8219. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
