Niche Fresno CA record store opens new location in River Park

Paul Cruikshank realized he wanted to expand his company.

That he would do that by opening a 2nd Ragin’ Records area in north Fresno, at the River Park Purchasing Center, was anything of a surprise.

“I don’t think lots of persons thought they would arrive in this article,” claims Tracy Kashian, River Park’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising and community relations.

But the keep that is a Tower District mainstay experienced its River Park grand opening July 2 in one particular of the center’s Market Retail areas. It is a strip of storefronts butted against the parking garage, just earlier the Regal movie theater.

Ragin’ Information was busting at the seams with all the merchandise it had coming in. Together with full collections of made use of records, Cruikshank was acquiring new records by the dozens to preserve rate with the sector.

He wanted more space for the expanded stock, but wasn’t about to give up the location he opened in the Tower District in 2019.

He says he understood there was likely at River Park.

The new retail outlet is smaller, just 600 square toes, and packed with vinyl much more than 2,200 data, with a target on new releases and a selection that is absolutely distinctive than what you would uncover at the Tower District retail store. There are also textbooks and cassette tapes, collectible VHS, T-shirts and other street wear.

The thought of an edgy, unbiased document store blended in with the center’s bigger, primarily national vendors and dining places could possibly feel odd. And some individuals were being judgmental about the store’s shift north, Cruikshank says. But River Park was practically nothing if not welcoming. Shockingly, so, he says.

“They were being stoked. They actually desired us below.”

It’s the motive the middle developed these Area of interest Retail house in the 1st place.

“We’re pretty passionate about mother-and-pop tenants,” suggests Eric Peterson, River Park’s director of leasing.

There are six spaces operating from 500 to 800 square feet with open up flooring designs that are all set-created for retail stores. There are no loos or water hookups inside of. The leases operate month-to-thirty day period and are intended for seasonal companies and people not yet prepared for more substantial storefronts, or for small business homeowners who are not organized to be locked into a classic 5-calendar year lease.

Grizzly Fest ran its ticketing business out of a Specialized niche Retail room in the months right before every of its music festivals.

Just down from Ragin’ Documents, the nonprofit Produced for Them has a area for its social business store, The Uncover.

Following door, jewelry maker Karla Osborn will be providing handmade earrings, necklaces and the like less than her Quite Pickie manufacturer. She now sells at River Park’s two weekly farmers markets, but hopes to have a shop open afterwards this summer.

Fresno’s first selfie studio

At the finish of the strip is Selfie Land, which experienced its grand opening at the finish of June. The company expenses by itself as Fresno’s to start with selfie studio. For $25, you get an hour to wander amid much more than 20 themed backdrops, additionally obtain to ring lights and other devices to make guaranteed the pics look social-media legit. All you have to have is your mobile phone.

“We really like stuff that is new,” Kashian says.

The Niche Retail area makes it possible for business enterprise house owners an opportunity to test out those people new or distinctive principles, she states.

Area of interest Retail graduate

George Deleija and Roman Gonzales had been some of the 1st to just take edge of the Niche Retail spaces.

U-Tec River Park opened in 2015 and remained in the place until finally this June, when it moved into a much larger storefront just throughout from Regal Cinemas. In the same discussion, Deleija refers to the Niche Retail area as a “lifeline” and “a golden bridge.”

Deleija had labored his way up as section-time worker at Gonzales’ computer system restore retail outlet in Madera and certain him to grow to be organization companions on a new retailer at River Park.

“We went from just currently being a maintenance store to almost currently being a desired destination,” Deleija claims.

U-Tec, which does information restoration and phone and laptop or computer and other tech restore down to the motherboard, kept increasing its expert services and experienced to employ the service of new personnel. Through the pandemic, when computer maintenance was regarded an crucial service, U-Tec observed an additional big uptick in organization.

Ultimately, it outgrew the place.

“We necessary to make that transfer,” Deleija suggests.

U-Tec has four other areas in Fresno and possessing a procuring center open up spaces and do the job with organizations month-to-month is not some thing that happens in other parts of city, Deleija claims.

“The fact that they would offer that is thoughts-blowing. It is unheard of,” he claims.