The Buzz: Who will fill Sears' space in Mt. Shasta Mall?

A few years ago, Buffalo Wild Wings was working to open in Redding.

But after plans fell through to build a new restaurant in the Target shopping center, there were rumors Buffalo Wild Wings was looking at the Mt. Shasta Mall.

With news that the mall plans to renovate the Sears building into a space for multiple tenants — which won’t include Sears — could the project finally give us the Buffalo Wild Wings many Redding residents have been hungering for?

Right now, mall ownership isn’t saying what new stores will be coming to the new-look Sears space once work is finished. The owners also won’t say when Sears will close to make room for construction.

Paving the way for this huge project, Rouse Properties, the mall’s owner, purchased the Sears building from Sears Holdings in July for $5 million.

Project engineer Russ Wenham said construction could start before the end of this year and is expected to take less than a year to complete. So figure the ribbon-cutting for late 2019.

By the way, the mall also plans to build an 11,000-square-foot building at the corner of Hilltop and Dana. The building will include a drive-thru window for a fast-foot restaurant. Chick-fil-A?

The architectural drawings submitted to the city for the Sears redevelopment show one of the new anchors looking a lot like Whole Foods, the organic grocer that some readers for years have been wishing for Redding. The words “Vitamins”, “Farm Fresh Produce”, “Natural Foods”, and “Meat Deli” are on the façade of the building.

Soon after Rouse Properties purchased the Mt. Shasta Mall in 2015, Record Searchlight readers shared their ideas for new stores and what changes the new owners should make.

Pottery Barn, Apple topped the wish list. Nordstrom, Williams-Sonoma, Forever 21 and H&M also were mentioned.

As for new restaurants, Cheesecake Factory, Panera Bread and California Pizza Kitchen were popular choices.

What do you think?

Compass moving across town

Established more than 20 years ago, Compass in Redding is moving to the old Apex Technology Management building on North Market Street.

In 2016, Apex moved to a larger location on Hemsted Drive.

Eric Hess, whose wife, Sadie, co-founded the company in 1996 and serves as its CEO, said they hope to be in the new building in April. Hess Property Holdings bought the former Apex building in July for $500,000.

Compass serves developmentally disabled adults in their homes. The company covers an area from the Oregon border to San Jose and has 200 employees in the North State.

“We serve over 400 clients in six counties,” said Eric Hess, the company's CFO.

Currently, Compass is headquartered on Knollcrest Drive, where Hess said they are squeezed for space. The new location will double Compass’ space.

And the company expects to continue to grow as demand for its services in California grows, Hess said.

“If we achieve our growth goals, we will probably have to acquire a new space in five years,” he said.

Hess attributes the company’s success in part because it made good, albeit difficult, choices during the recession.

“In 2011, we had to withstand a 10 percent cut in revenue without any reduction in services,” he said. “We froze wages . . . and didn’t lay off a single employee. We didn’t reduce service, we just got super lean. We relied on our team to maintain their dedication.”

Redding featured in Super Bowl spots

Like many of you, I will be couched in front of the TV to watch the Super Bowl.

Part of the fun on Super Sunday are the ads.

For the first time, the Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau has bought ad time for this year’s Super Bowl. The Mayor’s Mountain Bike Challenge will be pitched on seven 30-second regional commercial spots on KNVN, the local NBC affiliate.

The commercials will air on the “Road to the Super Bowl”, the pregame show and during the game, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m.

Since they’re regional spots, the cost is a shadow of what companies like Budweiser and Doritos pay for those 30-second national commercials that air during the game.

The Redding ads will be seen in an area stretching from Yuba City to the Oregon border.

Laurie Baker, CEO of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, estimates that up to 600,000 people will see the commercial that will air during the game.

“We figure that is a group of people who will put a bike on their car and come try our trails. So they are close enough but far enough away to stay overnight,” said Baker, who declined to say how much they paid for the ad package. “We think the Super Bowl people are usually pretty active and enjoy outdoor sports.”

The Mayor’s Mountain Bike Challenge is March 20-June 1. It was started by former Mayor Brent Weaver last year and invites locals and tourists to explore the many trails in the area.

The Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau worked with Vanderpool Integrated Productions and Speropictures on the commercials.

Golden Valley Bank to open branch

Golden Valley Bank has operated a loan-production office on Park Marina Drive in Redding for about 10 years.

The Chico-based bank planned to open a full-service branch years ago.

“When we first went up there, we thought we would expand to a larger facility within a couple of years but guess what happened, the recession hit,” Golden Valley CEO Mark Francis said.

Now the bank has applied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to open a branch in a suite at 250 Hemsted Drive.

“We are renting about 3,800-square-foot space on the first floor,” Francis said, adding they hope to open in June.

Francis said the branch will focus on business banking rather than a more typical retail banking branch.

“More business and their owners and key managers,” Francis said of the customers Golden Valley hopes to serve in Redding.

Jay Reagan and Christy Davis will manage the Redding branch, Francis said.

“We’ve been pretty successful on the loan side but we haven’t been able to take deposits from the customers we loan to, so this will allow us to take both sides of the business,” Francis said.

Reporter David Benda can be reached at 225-8219 or david.benda@redding.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS.