The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: What do you think will replace JCPenney in the Sunvalley Mall when it closes?
Talk about it.
a giant furniture store that no one ever goes in but somehow stays forever
Based upon vacancies of anchor stores at other local area malls, probably nothing. (The two most recent JC Penney vacancies at Hilltop Mall and Newpark Mall are still vacant. Hilltop since October 2018, Newpark since May 2019. Both malls also have vacant Sears stores, Newpark’s has been vacant sice Oct 2018. Hilltop’s closed as of March 17th of this year.)
Actually, the mall changed its name a long time ago., It is now know as The Shops at Hilltop or Hilltop by the Bay.
Can I just be the first to say:
Olive Garden
That would be one big garden. 😆
@Schmee It is our civic duty to make such a proposal. Or perhaps a corn snake-themed boutique.
You beat me to it! 😂
I came here for this response and Claycord did not disappoint. 🙂
That was my first thought! Har har har
anyone who still likes Olive Garden hasn’t been to Fiore in Concord.
@ Scheme
You make me proud!!
Janon, you know you’re allowed to like more than one Italian Restaurant, right?
We really liked Fiore, Luna, the Pavilion, Tulio’s, La Veranda, and yes, even Olive Garden.
La Veranda has Scampi e Pancetta as an appetizer!
That is grilled jumbo prawns, wrapped with pancetta.
Try it, it is wonderful.
Probably a wrecking ball . so much for mall history. tearing things down is the new in thing.
I don’t know what will replace it, but a Walmart Supercenter would be a nice addition. Penny’s takes up two locations, the second location can be used as Walmart’s auto and tire service. Walmart would be good for that location because it draws a lot of people and Sunvalley can use the business.
To close to Safeway to make it work. Besides there are ordinances that don’t permit Super Centers (ie Walmart non union) in Concord.
Oh God No! We do not need anymore people of “walmart” in that area.
A shooting range…unfortunately, not a good one ☹️
Walmart
A better question would be what will replace the Mall?
Townhouses, the mall is done
A Cabela’s would be awesome.
I vote “yes”, for a Cabela’s in Pleasant Hill or Concord, but Sun Valley is not up to standards.
Yup! Or Bass Pro Shop (same thing really). Then, we’d actually have something that attracted business!
I’d love to see Dick’s go away and Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops move into that building. Not in the mall, though.
The biggest Olive Garden Restaurant in the world!
just more hospital
The mall is too close to a major fault line so I wouldn’t build a hospital on that site. I also would not build townhouses or a school.
Make it into a indoor gokart racing or paintball arena is my vote!
Agree nothing going in, KMart on Clayton Rd is vacant. Target wanted to go in but Lucky’s said no as they are the other big tenant, and didn’t want Target selling groceries.
So, Target could go in, except they didn’t want to if they couldn’t sell groceries.
I have to agree … Nothing.
Malls are passe.
I’m thinking nothing too.
Tough time to have a business.
That’s a HUGE space. Do they try to lure someone else in the area to relocate? Is there anyone not in the area that is possibly looking to expand to our area? There’s only so many possibilities for a space that size.
It’ll probably be a temporary Spirit store in October– hah! I kid.
Olive Garden
A sense of emptiness.
Nothing,…maybe for a long time.
The mall needs to reimagined. Perfect location for mixed use development with retail, entertainment, housing. This is exactly what Concord needs to grow our tax base.
Amazon fulfillment center.
A gentleman’s club.
How about something strictly for the older crowd.?The late 40-50 group only. We don’t want Daisy Dukes, but we don’t want Polyester or elastic waste band pants either. Lol
Nothing. The day of the mall is over.
Logically, it will be KD Nickle.
Sorry.
Undress Barn
Unfortunately I don’t think anything will replace J C Penney. Think this maybe the beginning of the end of Sun Valley Shopping Center. Very sad.
A gigantic food court designed with social distancing in mind. Make McDonald’s the anchor. That tiny McDonald’s squeezed into the basement is like being buried alive. And no windows. Ouch!
I’d love to see something like The Public Market in Emeryville or the Ferry Building in San Fran.
A nice, reasonable cost indoor shooting range would be nice.
A food bank. Were gonna need huge ones.
Homeless Hotel, purchased by Greasy Gavin with our $$$$$$$.:)
A giant Pac Sun, to rule them all!
Concord State Prison.
15% of Concord’s population could just move right in.
108RS
Sears will be next in that Mall, and perhaps one of the Macys (I bet they consolidate space). I don’t think they will be filled anytime soon since they are so big.
Olive Garden
Casa Bonita!
The world’s worst mexican food (except for the sopapillas).
But really fun for the kids. Mariachi bands! Indoor cliff diving! Dude in a gorilla suit!
Check out their site:
http://casabonitadenver.com/
I lived in Lakewood in the 70’s and remember Casa Bonita well. You paid for the atmosphere, but what an atmosphere it was!
OLIVE Garden. Along with the all new Olive Mountain, and the Olive-Garden-to-GO. Will Covid seating of 20 people….Per Floor
Could you repeat that? You lost me at “The mall”.
Then we’re perfectly safe.
I need a translator to understand this rambling mess.
How about a Corn Snake habitat…
A massive strip club. Help employ some young people!
Bwahahahahahaha
Just tear the whole mall down, with Amazon no one actually needs it anymore.
I cant believe people actually still go out and shop, in person shopping is so overrated..
Mall’s such as Sun Valley Mall are not in our future.
For the first five years it will remain vacant except for a Pop Up Halloween store every fall until the area is run down beyond repair. It will then be replaced by a Dollar Store.
Best Buy, since we can’t have a Simon’s hardware anymore
My brother retired from Penney’s a couple of years ago. Fortunately, his retirement is not dependent on the success of J C Penney.
An interesting point to find out would be to know how much the monthly rent is for both JC Penny spots. Guessing $50k per month at the mall and the stand alone about $30k per month?
A school to teach remedial spelling to those who want to add an apostrophe to anything ending in s. Example; mall’s. Or the correct use of their, there, and they’re.
A Guitar Center
Aldi
Costco
A toy store would be great.
bas pro shop there or at the old Kmart location
Great idea! I’d go for that or a Cabela’s.
*bass
Nothing. The space is huge and the rent must be astronomical. In this economy I don’t imagine anyone filling that big space. They may turn it into smaller retail sections and rent them out that way. Either way, the overhead in sunvalley Mall is insane
I suspect that JCP and eventually Sears will sit empty as other stores slowly leave the Mall until everyone is gone.
Then some developers will build hundreds of condo’s with some retail and restaurants scattered about and it’ll be called the Sun Valley Community and Shopping Center.
The parking will be horrible.
Should put an ice rink back in there and give some of these kids stuff to do. Like maybe forming hockey teams for them to compete in like they do with baseball and football. It’s not like hockey i just an East Coast sport any longer.
And before somebody calls the idea nuts just look around and tell me what there is for kids now days to do?? Nothing actually. I remeber growing up in Concord there was miniature golf and roller skating and ice skating to name a few Now they just tear up stuff …Sad
Great idea.
littletoe, I’m happy to let you know that the Sun valley mall is in Concord. You have not lived in Phill very long because it was a pit not that long ago.
Replace the Mall with an IKEA.
That would be one giant IKEA
Amazon warehouse.
Niketown and Bestbuy, the looters choice!
@Dee, I remember the ice rink, there was also Malibu Grand Prix. Since it is a multi-level building it would be tough for one retailer.
It could get converted to working lofts since there still is some mall left people can work from home and shopping would be close. Wasn’t Facebook going to build a community near their HQ?
A catalog store for Amazon. When I was la kid, most small rural towns had a store for Sears, Wards, Penneys, etc where you could order stuff and pick it up when it arrived. This spot or Sears spot would be perfect. If nothing else it would piss off a bunch of porch pirates
Public statue storage.
Ditto. Methinks Random task needs a new tinfoil hat.
Look up Florin Mall in Sacramento.
Became overrun by crime, and was torn down in place of an open shopping center with considerable success.
I didn’t know they tore that mall down. But when I left Sacratormento, I didn’t look back.
That whole mall area is just a placeholder for a housing developer at this point. Sears will be the last to close, since Sears actually owns their building and the surrounding parking lots. Sears is closing all their stores that are leased and keeping all the stores located on their own real estate. The only value to Sears right now IS the real estate they sit on, the leased stores are losers. When Sears closes Sun Valley, then you know a deal has been struck for the land.
My understanding is that the land under the Sun Valley Mall still belongs to the original owner – the farmer who sold it in the 1960s. But he didn’t sell it freehold – he sold it as a 99-year lease, meaning that, sometime around 2067, the lease will be up for renegotiation. It was a good deal at the time – the future was bright. The American Dream era (1945 – 1975) let Sun Valley be prosperous. People became aware that the money was starting to run out when Nixon pulled the US off the gold standard after blowing all the wealth on foreign wars and other indulgences. The rising tide that floated all boats has been going out for a long time. So now its 2020 and the descendants of that farmer are looking ahead. What happens when the lease runs out? I don’t know how the lease was worded, but suppose the land reverts to the original owner? With the death of the local JC Penney, it might be the start of a bleak period for the Mall, one that will end with its demolition in the 2060s at the latest.
On the other hand, as another poster suggested, I’ve long thought about a tunnel between Sun Valley and the Willows / Veranda. It couldn’t be just a pedestrian tunnel (urinal and haven for muggers). It would have to be a continuation of both shopping centres, with shops all along the tunnel, like the underground malls in Las Vegas or Toronto.
It isn’t owned by Taubman?
That’s interesting.
But I still think someone should be talking with Elon Musk.
Tesla factory. 🚗 🚗 🚗
I think drawing a line at 1975 as the end of some arbitrarily defined “American Dream Era” is a bit presumptuous.
Gun range
YES YES YES!!!!!!
A bulldozer!!
A huge sporting goods store similar to the now defunct Tri-City Sporting Goods which used be located on Grimmer Blvd in Fremont, CA. I knoow we have Dick’s Sporting Goods store at the Crossroads Shopping Center in Pleasant Hill. That store, however, is puny compared to Tri-City.
Don’t know if I have a good suggestion, I wouldn’t mind an Ikea, since the closets one is in Emeryville, for the most part I’m at an age where I don’t need new furniture. However, Ikea has a lot of my Scandinavian delicacies, such as herring, many others as well. I know Sephora was in one J.C. Penny, so perhaps they could take up some of the space, or Ulta could move over there, however, the space is too big for a make-up store, perhaps Ulta or Sephora and a scaled down Ikea. The have a lot of smaller household item that I use to buy, which I still might, depends of the price, I buy most stuff at Macy’s since I get an employee discount, but if it was cheaper at Ikea and I didn’t have to drive all the way to Emeryville, I would buy it there.
@ Whatever:
I did not know this – I am always prepared to be educated – does Sears own the land? If so, then my earlier statements must be qualified. Perhaps the south end of the Mall will ed up differently.
Wikipedia says that Taubman built and owns the mall but makes no mention of whether the land is owned or leased. I read that Simon was buying Taubman out, but today, I read that Simon wants out of the deal.
@Ancient Mariner my understanding is that Sears owns the land around their building. This is one reason why the mall security around the Sears building and parking lots is different than the rest of the mall. Sears provides their own, while the rest of the mall is contracted out to the owner of the mall. My father was a young attorney with Sears when he was involved with the negotiation to develop Sun Valley, and at that point Sears had some horsepower. With a Sears store that large and with an automotive department, the rest of the mall was sure to be successful. Due to that, Sears could call their own shots, and they insisted on owning their property outright. Right now, that’s the main reason that Sears store is still open for business, the real estate is owned, no lease to pay each month on a store that doesn’t make money.
Bass Pro or Cabela’s is a nice pipe dream, but a vacant storefront is the more likely outcome.
Absolutely, Concord is run by a corrupt city council. This city has been turning into a dump the last 25 years. Used to be just a few streets were s*** holes (Monument, Virginia lane, although they’re much worse now). Roads are horrific. Crime is up.
It’s really a shame..
With 3 floors, it could be 3 different stores, or divide them into more than 3. Good parking is an asset, and that’s just the main store; the stand-alone store is another matter.
Random Task just a question, why do you live in the SF Bay Area? let alone California?
A casino. I’m sure some folks can claim tribal ties to the land.
Liberal policies always turn city into a dump. Look at every metropolis in the US and the truth is revealed. The Autonomous Zone was the icing on the cake.
These political science major anarchists cannot build a society because in order to have civil discourse there must be rules. Trading traditional behavior for anarchy is plain old stupid… As witnessed in Seattle, Minniapolis, Portland, Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco. The list will continue until some one grabs the reigns of this runaway horse.
I’m thinking he means the Antioch mall, which is also an empty, crime-infested dump!
Until we get elected officials that don’t destroy our city we are doomed and we have law enforcement that can do their jobs without the constant bickering and over scrutiny by the libs and entitlement crowd. Oh one more thing DA offices that finally prosecute instead of looking the other way.
Once some good ole common sense comes back then things will pick up and many of the issues will resolve themselves and maybe then corporations will want to come back. The way things are nowadays with anyone stealing up to $950 with no prosecution who in their right mind would open up a business.
For those complaining about Random’s post, instead of making snide remarks, why don’t you say why you think he is wrong. The crime at SunValley my family has experienced first hand with one small child almost getting run over by shoplifters running from security and the very last visit getting back to the car and finding the gas cap pried off. Sanctuary cities? Yes it is a mess and so are the tents and street people and Prop 47. China? Yes its our future direction but I would emphasize the oppressive government with surveillance and control as we see more and more with NSA, tracking people’s phones, and using government power to punish political opponents. As for questioning why Random is in the Bay Area, there are comments all over the SF Chronicle along the lines of it you don’t like it get out, and the result is the least family friendly and most dysfunctional street people friendly place I know of. When good people flee, guess what’s left.
It will probably be bought by Amazon and turned into a local fulfillment center.
to those of you mentioning bass pro & cabelas..
have you evrr been to SCHEELS? quite amazing.
Sadly. I too believe that this type of mall has seen its hayday.
Scheels in sparks NV. is my happiest place on earth.
Yep, a neat store for sure.
How about a combo?
Homeless shelter.
Pot dispensary.
Methadone clinic/rehab center.
Police sub-station.
Notice the synergies? One stop shopping.
JC Penny, Forever21, Sears and Macy’s go next, once they are all gone there will be no mall.
Macy’s announced lay off a few days ago, mostly corporate. I work at Macy’s at Sun Valley, I was assured by my manager that we don’t have to worry about getting laid off. Of course we are not back to full force, because we are not open as many hours, only 11 to 7, instead of 10 to 9, and extended hours on sale days. Anyway I have seniority, and since I have been back, June 18 I have been pretty busy, I’m mostly in handbags and do a nice business everyday, and am able to open up credit cards as well.
I don’t usually comment on spelling errors but I am rolling on the floor thinking about a “defunked” mall in Pittsburg!
Ice skating! Or roller skating, shooting range, go karts, or something , ANYTHING entertaining that doesn’t involve sitting on the tookus or lying down.
RT has a point…the liberal policies of this area are slowly destroying it. This area is going downhill…I cannot wait for the day I can leave it all behind and leave you to cover the growing debt payments this state is running up by tax increases.
Probably either a homeless shelter, or a Marxist indoctrination center.
A casino would be perfect! Too many shills at California Grand. Haven’t been there in years for that very reason.
Random Task you are such a pleasant, uplifting person spreading sunshine, aren’t you? Bless your little heart.
Nashville has a bar that features Axe Throwing competitions. I’m thinking that we have an opportunity for new entertainment. I propose:
• Roller Raslin’
• Ice Bowling, and
• Axe Catching
I say turn it into a large Hooters!!!!!!!!!
Medium and Small Hooters are nice too.
Sometimes I make me laugh.