November 2015
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NOVEMBER 2015 VOL 11 • NUMBER 3
Business Journal CENTRAL VALLEY
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STOCKTON • TRACY • LODI • MANTECA • LATHROP • ESCALON • RIPON MERCED • LIVINGSTON
MODESTO • CERES • TURLOCK • OAKDALE • PATTERSON LOS BANOS • ATWATER
Distribution sector takes lead in job growth in Valley
Amgen Tour Returns Lodi will be a host city for a second year.
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ZBoards Riverbank business may get bump from new law.
Page 20 Vintage Faire Mall is fully occupied with the addition of new stores over the past year.
BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO
Retail rebounds
Shopping centers expand, retail employment up
Talking Turkey Why you’ll want to order early if you hope for a local bird.
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WHAT’S INSIDE Publisher’s Notes.............Page 2 On the Web.......................Page 5 CEO Spotlight.................Page 12 Real Estate.....................Page 35 Who’s Hiring...................Page 42 Briefs......................Pages 54, 55 Legals.....................Pages 56, 57
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By CRAIG W. ANDERSON Business Journal writer canderson@cvbizjournal.com
MODESTO — Signs of recovery in the Central Valley’s retail market were everywhere in 2015. Shopping centers expanded. Vacancy rates were down. Retail employment went up. “2015 has been the best year for retail in the past six years,” said John Godi, president and CEO of Stone Bros. Management, which manages
Sherwood Mall and Stonecreek Village in Stockton. Retail centers expect the good times to roll through the all-important holiday shopping season. The National Retail Federation forecasts holiday sales will increase 3.7 percent in November and December to $630.5 billion — significantly higher than the 10-year average of 2.5 percent. “We prepare year-round for the holiday season which is our Super Bowl,” said Vin-
tage Faire Mall’s marketing manager Annie Amies. “We think people in Modesto and Stanislaus County will be out shopping in full force in what we anticipate will be a positive holiday season.” Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall is the largest shopping center in our three-county region with 1.1 million square feet of gross leasable space and 150 restaurants and retailers. It is almost fully occupied thanks to new stores that have opened Please see RETAIL Page 8
TURLOCK — Employment in the San Joaquin Valley has continued to rise, even while the prolonged drought has worsened, according to the new Business Forecast released by CSU Stanislaus economist Gokce Soydemir. According to the report, Valley employment grew 1.95 percent this year, which is significantly higher than the long-run average rate of 1.19 percent. It is also higher than 2014’s growth of 1.71 percent. “Had there been no drought, employment levels in the Valley would have been undoubtedly higher,” Soydemir’s report said. Employment grew in every county but at different rates. Fresno County added jobs at the fastest rate of 2.90 percent, the report found. Merced County was the second fastest at 2.33 percent followed by San Joaquin and Tulare counties. Stanislaus and Kings counties grew at speeds close to the Valley average of 1.95 percent. Employment growth in Madera and Kern counties was much slower compared to other counties in the Valley. Soydemir said that employment conditions that had prevailed since the end of the recession in 2011 began to change this year. For example, for the first time since the recession, construction was no longer the Valley’s leading category of employment in 2015. Instead, the trade, transportation, and utilities employment sector — which includes warehouse and distribution — took the lead, registering 5.01 percent growth. Manufacturing employment also performed better in 2015 than in 2014 and grew faster than the state and national averages, according to the report.
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