Franchise Opportunities in Fresno, CA

Three Fresno Fallas Paredes stores, which sell clothing at heavily discounted prices, will shut their doors by July as analysts say the national chain suffers a cascade of economic blows.

The stores are on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno, at Cedar and Shields avenues in east-central Fresno, and on Kings Canyon Boulevard and Willow Avenue in southeast Fresno. A fourth store, in the Westlan shopping center at Ashlan and West avenues, had already shut down.

Inquiries to the corporate headquarters of National Stores Inc., which includes Fallas, sent by telephone and email, went unanswered Friday.

Employees at the Fulton Street and Cedar stores said they were ordered not to comment on the reasons for the closures. A manager at the Cedar store said that order went so far as to not provide a name. That manager appeared to be stoic about the closure, however.

“It happens,” she said.

There were big bargains at the stores while they remain open, however. Rack upon rack of colorful T-shirts and other casual wear were on sale at the Fulton store for several dollars an item, and there was no shortage of customers Friday.

According to the Fallas website, the chain was founded in 1962 in Los Angeles, and quickly grew to 60 stores in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Puerto Rico. Store executives indicated they were proud that “Fallas is typically located in the same communities our customers and staff call home.”

Fallas expressed interest in an online presence, as well, but the new developments appear to have overtaken that plan.

Fallas subsequently became part of Los Angeles-based National Stores Inc., which also includes the Factory 2-U chain, according to the Fierceretail.com website.

In 2014, the so-called Brooklyn Paper reported that Fallas acquired the New York-based Conway discount chain and its 78 stores. The paper also noted that the English language translation of Fallas Paredes was “failure walls.”

The Conway purchase may have been an overreach, according to Reuters, in a story about a bankruptcy declaration by National Stores in 2018. Reuters said the bankruptcy declaration cited the purchase along with a negative retail environment as factors. Also mentioned was the data breach that exposed information from 552,000 credit cards.

This story was originally published June 3, 2022 4:35 PM.

Two new restaurant franchises are looking to open locations in the Fresno/Clovis area.

The Red Chickz Nashville Hot Chicken is a Los Angeles-based chicken restaurant.

It has secured one location in town but declined to say where just yet. Franchisee Keerat Riar said he plans to open up to three locations in the area.

The other restaurant is Teriyaki Madness, a fast-casual Asian grill that calls itself a “Seattle-style teriyaki restaurant.” It serves bowls with chicken, steak, salmon or tofu, and vegetables atop rice or Yakisoba noodles.

Its franchisee plans to open three locations in the area and is looking for its first spot.

Unlike a company-owned restaurant, franchisees are often local people or small companies who are granted rights to open a franchise – everything from Subway to Crumbl Cookies – in a particular area. In exchange for a fee, the franchisee runs the restaurant and takes advantage of the company’s well-known brand name.

Not to be confused with another Nashville hot chicken chain, Angry Chickz – which has three locations in Fresno – The Red Chickz is also planning to come to Fresno.

The Red Chickz has one location in L.A., and is expanding further in Southern California and also in Texas.

Fresno has had an influx of Nashville hot chicken places lately, including Fluckers, Spicy Birdz and the FURY Hot Chicken food truck (and that’s not including all the new Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and Chicken Shack locations opening).

The menu at Red Chickz is a little different than its competitors. In addition to chicken sandwiches, tenders and tacos, you can get chicken and French toast.

It’s a twist on the chicken and waffles trend – which is also on the menu, said Riar, the franchise owner.

“Hot chicken paired with French toast? The pairing is excellent,” he said. “You have that sweet but spicy taste and the French toast is super soft and just melts in your mouth.”

Shrimp, cheese curds and loaded potato wedges are also on the menu.

If all goes as planned, Riar hopes to open the first location within six months. The others will happen over the next year or so, he said.

Teriyaki Madness also wants to open in the Fresno and Clovis area.

Franchisee Shogy Saleh is looking for his first location.

There are 12 bowls on the menu, including five different types of chicken. There are also appetizers like edamame, crab Rangoon, chicken eggrolls and potstickers.

“It’s a big menu so you don’t get tired of it,” Saleh said.

It’s sometimes compared to Panda Express, though the food is made fresh to order, not made ahead of time and kept warm.

Teriyaki Madness has locations in 34 states. It’s in the middle of a massive expansion, selling 22 franchises this year, with 30 locations planned to open by the end of the year.

It recently opened in West Sacramento and Bakersfield, and will soon open a location in Salinas.

Disturbing videos were released this week that claim to capture unsanitary conditions inside a Fresno County McDonald’s.

Posted on the Sanger Live Facebook page, the collection of short videos shows dead mice on the ground, another mouse running around and roaches near food with the footage allegedly taken at the McDonald’s restaurant located off Academy Avenue in Sanger.

“Sanger Live” founder Moses Esparza said all of the footage was recorded recently by McDonald’s employees who were disgusted by the fast-food restaurant’s conditions but feared to speak out because of concerns of losing their job.

“It’s gross — really, really gross,” said Esparza, a Sanger native who said he created Sanger Live to showcase what life is sometimes like in his home city. “A restaurant should never look like that. Makes me sick thinking of the times I’ve gotten food from that McDonald’s then seeing those videos.

“These employees, they were fed up with what they were seeing, but didn’t want to get in trouble. But (they) also felt that other people needed to know what they saw on a regular basis and what was being allowed.”

The Fresno County Health Division said on Friday it was looking into the conditions of that Sanger McDonald’s. (There is one other McDonald’s in Sanger, on Jensen Avenue a few miles west of the Academy location.)

“We can confirm that claims were filed against the restaurant, and we are aware of the videos circulating that claim to show conditions of the place,” said a member of the Fresno County Health Division. “That is a facility that we do monitor from a health and safety standpoint. We are looking into the situation and cannot comment any further.”

On Friday, a day after the roaches and mice videos were posted, the McDonald’s on Academy was closed “due to maintenance,” according to a sign taped to the front door.

It was unclear how long the McDonald’s would remain closed.

A message left with McDonald’s corporate office was not immediately returned and no one picked up calls to the Sanger McDonald’s on Academy Avenue on Friday or Saturday morning.

Also shown in the videos and still photos that were posted on social media are: cups on the ground with the tops touching a filthy floor, large chunks of grease accumulated in the cooking area, and an overall unclean working area that would seem accessible only to McDonald’s employees.

Esparza said he’s received a lot of feedback from the videos of the McDonald’s conditions with many sharing their own “horror stories” and what they’ve noticed at the restaurant. Many Sanger residents expressed relief that the popular fast-food joint shut its doors Friday, even if temporarily, Esparza added.

“What’s sad is that building that the McDonald’s is in was remodeled like four, five years ago, and it’s already gotten so bad so fast,” Esparza said. “A lot of people had noticed it had gone downhill even before they saw the videos.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2022 9:34 AM.

A fifth consecutive week of rising COVID-19 cases locally pushed Fresno County to its highest total of new weekly cases in more than two months.

County and state health officials reported 602 new laboratory-confirmed infections on Friday in Fresno County, bringing the week’s total to 1,352. That’s more than double the 650 cases that were reported the previous week, and almost five times higher than this spring’s low-water mark of 296 cases in mid-April.

The latest report of cases came the same day that Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer confirmed that he has tested positive for the virus for a second time in the pandemic.

Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer, and Joe Prado, assistant director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, noted that cases may continue to rise in the coming weeks based on an increase in coronavirus traces showing up in wastewater samples throughout the county.

“Our wastewater surveillance is showing us some disturbing trends,” Vohra said. “It means there is a lot of COVID burden in our community.” When people are infected with the coronavirus, they shed the virus in bodily excretions that make their way into the sewer systems.

Prado said that between May 3 and May 13, sewage testing revealed a 90% increase in gene copies of coronavirus.

“What typically happens … is that the wastewater signal goes up first, then seven to 10 days later we see cases go up, and then hospitalizations,” Vohra said. He said his agency is warning hospitals and medical practices to “brace yourself” in anticipation of an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the next couple of weeks.

So far, however, the number of people hospitalized for serious coronavirus infections has not increased at the same rate as cases over the past few weeks, Vohra said.

One possible factor is the availability of medications to treat COVID-19 once a patient has tested positive. “In mid-2022, if you have COVID, we tell you to run, don’t walk, to get a medication,” Vohra said. Between oral medications and intravenous infusion treatments, “there’s a lot of different options.

“A five-day course of an oral medication can convert you from having a very severe prognosis and hospitalization to something milder that you can manage at home,” Vohra added. “We can do much better now than we could last year or even a few months ago.”

On his Twitter account, Dyer tweeted that he was experiencing cold-like symptoms Thursday night and took two at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. “Unfortunately, both were positive,” he said.

“I have canceled all appointments and events for the next few days,” Dyer added. “At this time, I have very mild symptoms, but will continue following City of Fresno health protocols.” He said he intends to work remotely as his office prepares to roll out a proposed 2022-23 budget for the city.

Dyer previously contracted the coronavirus following an election-night dinner in November 2020, at which other people including Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau and Fresno-area developer Darius Assemi were also infected.

Significant week-over-week increases in new infections were also seen this week in neighboring Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties.

Explore the following interactive charts to see the surges and lulls in cases, deaths and hospitalizations over the past two years in Fresno County and the central San Joaquin Valley.

This story was originally published May 20, 2022 3:23 PM.

Residents of a high-poverty, rural Fresno County town want county leaders to pay off their water debt using federal pandemic stimulus funds.

On May 17, three residents of Cantua Creek, and Grecia Elenes, regional policy manager of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, asked the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to waive the community’s water debt and pay off any remaining debt with the American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“I think we’re all trying to come to the table to come up with a comprehensive solution that works for everyone,” Elenes said during the meeting.

Cantua Creek residents and residents from the neighboring community of El Porvenir have long struggled to pay the cost of their water bills. In 2015, they nearly had their water shut off until an emergency state grant helped the community pay down their water debt.

According to an email to The Bee from Amina Flores Becker, Fresno County Resources Division Manager, a May 2022 projection estimates that El Porvenir will owe $370,000, while Cantua Creek will owe $40,000 by the end of the current fiscal year.

During the board of supervisors meeting, a Cantua Creek resident who did not provide her name said that her water bill is $225.

“We plead…for the county to help us pay that debt,” she said through a Spanish interpreter.

“It is a struggle with prices soaring to feed and provide the necessities for families,” said Esther Ramírez, a homeowner in Cantua Creek who also asked that the water debt be forgiven.

Sonja Dosti, public information officer for Fresno County, stated in an email to The Bee on May 17 that it was “premature” to comment on the request since the Public Works and Planning Department is working with the state on water infrastructure projects within Cantua Creek and El Porvenir.

Fresno County Supervisor and Board Chair Brian Pacheco, whose district includes the west Fresno communities, told The Bee that the county “is in a bit of a holding pattern,” waiting for decisions from the State Water Board to see if the state provides any reimbursements on the Cantua Creek water bill.

“While it’s good to put it on our radar, it is a little premature because we do not know what the state is going to do,” he said.

Pacheco also said, “It will be a little difficult to use ARPA money because this debt occurred prior to COVID-19.”

But Elenes argued otherwise. “The social and economic impacts of COVID are inextricably tied to debt that accrued prior to and during the pandemic,” she said. “Recovery is inextricably tied to a sustainable and affordable drinking water system.”

In an email to The Bee on Thursday, Blair Roberston, a spokesperson for the State Water Resources Board, stated that they are waiting for the completion of the county’s rate study before they can determine the funding award amount.

Cantua Creek is a census-designated place located on the west side of Fresno County. The community is home to about 376 residents, of which 99% are Hispanic/Latino, and 45.2% live below the poverty line, according to a Census Reporter analysis of 2020 American Community Survey census data.

Cantua Creek and neighboring El Porvenir are county service areas – special districts governed by the county’s board of supervisors.

The communities receive their water from Westlands Water District at market rates, which jumped up to $1,444 an acre-foot during the 2012-2016 drought. Cantua Creek almost had its water shut off in 2014 when residents told the county they couldn’t pay the higher rates, but thanks to a $120,000 grant from the State Water Resources Control Board to cover overdue bills, the community was able keep the water flowing.

Since then, Fresno County has secured around $11 million from the State Water Board to construct two new wells to help the community access a more affordable water source. The wells and water treatment systems are expected to go live in approximately two years, county officials said in an email to The Bee on Tuesday. California’s Department of Water Resources also funded the construction of a new water distribution system in Cantua Creek at a cost of $2.7 million.

Residents, such as Ramírez of Cantua Creek, say they are looking forward to the new well systems but hope the current debt can be paid off, too.

Cantua Creek and El Porvenir have a history of undrinkable water because of contaminants such as nitrates found in local wells in the early 2000s. In 2015, residents couldn’t drink the water due to high levels of disinfectant used to cleanse raw water from the Westlands Water District. Today, residents still do not trust the water quality, even though officials say that water from Westlands is treated in surface water treatment plants.

“We are a disadvantaged community that doesn’t have one of the human rights, potable water that we can drink from our tap,” said Ramírez. “Yet, we still pay each month for it.”

Elenes also said she appreciates “the communication that we’ve been able to have with staff in trying to come up with new solutions, trying to work with the State Water Board in addressing this.” She added that the State Water Board has committed to subsidizing water rates in El Porvenir by covering some of the existing debt.

“Although I will note it will help tremendously,” Elenes said, “these bills will still be over $100 – which I think we can all recognize is still a pretty steep incline for many farmworkers and the folks who are living at or below the poverty line.”

County leaders say they’re waiting on the State Water Board before deciding on a course of action.

Robertson of the State Water Board says the board “hope(s) to be able to make a decision regarding a commitment of funds within a few weeks,” adding that funding to help reduce water bills “will likely be focused on El Porvenir, as that area has significantly higher proposed rates than Cantua Creek.”

However, Robertson said that due to statutory limitations, reimbursements toward reducing the water bill “can’t be used toward the past costs owed to the County” and can only be directed towards the operations and maintenance portion of costs.

Fresno County received over $194 million in federal pandemic stimulus funding. As of February, the board of supervisors approved the county’s ad hoc ARPA committee’s recommendations to spend $112.5 million on public health and economic impacts, $15.4 million on premium pay for essential workers, $10 million on lost revenue, $18.7 million on water, sewer, and broadband projects, and $37.4 million on sub-recipient ideas and projects that are expected to be announced next month.

But not everyone agrees with how the county is spending its ARPA funds. Earlier this month, Fresno County got an overall “C” grade for how it handled the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief funding and got an “F” for not doing enough to promote racial equity, according to a report by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network.

One reason for the “C” score was that “despite urgent health and social needs in the community, Fresno County has still not allocated any ARPA SLFRF (State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds) monies towards specific projects as of early 2022,” according to the scorecard.

Dosti said the opinion of a “C” grade in the use of funds category is “erroneous” because the county took “immediate action” to earmark a portion of the funding to the ongoing efforts in addressing COVID-19 in the county’s diverse community.

The county then “intentionally delayed allocation of funding to projects other than COVID-19 response, to ensure appropriate public outreach was conducted, and public comment was received,” she said.

Late last year, Fresno County surveyed how residents wanted the ARPA funds spent. The 607 responses show that public health response, community wellness, homelessness, and infrastructure were ranked as priorities for the spending.

“Although the county appreciates the subjective review and receiving high marks on community engagement, transparency, accessibility, and accountability, the opinion of an ‘F’ grade in the category of ‘promoting racial equity’ is flawed,” Dosti said.

Pacheco said he didn’t think it was a fair score, either. “We got dinged because we didn’t use the word ‘equity’ in our wording,” he said. “Not that we didn’t apply those standards (of equity) and not that those weren’t some of the projects that we funded.”

Overall, Pacheco said he’s “pleased” with how the county has spent the federal stimulus funds so far. However, he said he disagreed with the decision to spend $225,000 of ARPA funds on the Fresno County garlic festival because he didn’t think it was “within the spirit” of the ARPA funds.

“Disadvantaged communities could have used that money, I believe, in a lot more beneficial use than the three-day garlic festival,” he said.

Dosti said county officials say they anticipate that “most of the $194 million in funding will be spent on projects located within qualified census tracts or benefiting disadvantaged or underserved communities that have been and continue to be disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This story was originally published May 21, 2022 5:00 AM.