California Real Estate Journal

May, 1997

RICHMOND REVIVED

By Jane Bowar Zastrow

It isn't quaint like Carmel or mega like the Great Mall of the Bay Area in Milpitas. Nor is it tony like the Stanford Shopping Center, cosmopolitan like San Francisco's Union Square or crowded like Richmond's Hilltop Mall. There are no big boxes, off-price discounters or category killers.

What the 3-year-old, 76,000-square-foot Richmond Shopping Center is, is full of neighborhood-serving retailers who are neither glitzy nor upscale just what the city had in mind when it brought in The Martin Group to develop the $7.8 million retail project in conjunction with a mixed-income residential project by Bridge Housing Corp. Even on a good day the downtown center's mix of mom-and-pops and national chains might be described as nondescript.

At Burse's Beauty Supply where African-American hair-, skin- and nail-care products are beginning to share already crowded shelf space with those for Hispanics, manager Roger Burse says he's trying to open up his shop to more and different products to serve the changing neighborhood.

Burse's is seeing a lot more foot traffic. "It's a good thing they put the shopping center here," says Burse, who brought his shop from its former location three blocks away in a now boarded up and abandoned part of Richmond's downtown.

Edward Webb, a Vallejo resident, makes frequent trips to the center where he meets old friend and Richmond resident Lee Hickson for coffee and a game of dominos. "I used to come every day when I lived in San Francisco," says the 22-year veteran of San Francisco Municipal Railway. The two retirees, who never seem to be without conversation partners, meet and greet family and friends from their seat on a bench under the tree at the center's core.

According to Hickson about 50 to 60 percent of Richmond's citizens are on fixed incomes and don't have or can't afford transportation to outlying retail areas. The Richmond Shopping Center "serves the purpose for the neighborhood and is convenient for senior citizens," says Webb.

That FoodsCo allows customers to push their grocery laden carts home is a real selling point for Hickson, who says the grocer sends trucks out into the neighborhood to retrieve the carts later.

A visit to the grocer's produce section tells the story of the neighborhood among the usual suburban fare of sweet peppers, leaf lettuce, celery and broccoli, okra and mustard greens lay in profusion next to cactus and copious numbers of jalapeño's. Piñatas line the top of one produce display case.

On this late sunny afternoon, the shopping center seems the place not only for families with small children but for school kids who have just put in their day's worth of reading, writing and arithmetic. Bicycles cruise the parking lot and gaggles of young men and women stroll the area or pop from cars, dropping in to shops to spend their money on sodas, chips and ice cream of various flavors. Hickson says kids hanging out at the mall is human nature at work. "Young people like to be where others are," he says.

Richmond's police walk the center where, Hickson says, they know most folks by name. And it's no wonder. Most of the people in the center on this warm sunny day are regulars. Seventeen-year-old Tiana, Lisa and Judy come daily to check out and perhaps purchase sportswear at the expanded Player Outlet and beauty products at Burse's and to buy their eats from FoodsCo, Subway Shop or Burger King.

Jean, a Delaware native who lives a bus ride or $3.40 taxi ride away at 26th Street and Cutting Boulevard, says she makes the trip two to three times a week. Her main stops are at FoodsCo, Walgreens and the Donut Shop. On this particular day Jean is resting on the bench with Webb and Hickson, waiting for a prescription to he filled. "1 get everything I need here," she says, noting she has been coming to the center since it opened. "I used to go to Lucky and Safeway but they're an $8 cab fare," she says.

One of the busiest shops in the center, despite all warnings against its only product, is Cigarettes Cheaper. Manager Jose Oppus says the 350-shop chain "is making money on this store" where customers can get their Marlboros for 25 percent cheaper than they can at regular outlets.

While many of his customers are from the neighborhood, many more come from the outlying area. 'They're looking for a price they want and they don't mind spending the price of gasoline," says Oppus. 'They still get a savings."

Customer E. J. Jones buys his pack of cigarettes, offering he visits the shopping center five to six times a week. "If this was not here, Hilltop is the closest and it's 10 miles away," says the Richmond resident.

Enjoying a late lunch of sweet and sour pork in the Golden Rainbow restaurant, Bob Marshall visits the center daily because of its quick and easy shopping. A resident of the nearby seniors' apartments, the 79-year-old Marshall, a Minnesota transplant, frequents the center's many food places since his wife died. "I live alone and I'm not much of a cook," he admits.

For restaurant manager Louise Hua, who lives in nearby San Pablo, the three years she's been at the Golden Rainbow have been ones of ups and downs. 'This year started slow," she admits, feeling that perhaps the economy is not as buoyant as others see it. Like the neighboring taqueria, Hua entertains a pretty good lunch crowd from the Social Security offices across the Street. It's the evenings that are slow.

The difference between national chain shops and mom-and-pops is quite evident here. "If you're a big company, you're OK, but we can't charge a lot of money or they're not going to come and eat," she says.

Because the neighborhood cannot support high prices, Hua thinks the rent at the center is too high. "The lease is my only complaint," agrees Burse, adding, "Who doesn't complain about their lease?"

Ernest Padilla hasn't had much time to think about his lease. He decided about six months ago to take a chance with the center's taqueria when it became available, getting a "good deal" when buying the business. However, he too finds some days hard because the "people don't have much money to spend."

On the bright side, the Richmond resident says business has picked up since he took over, bringing his years of experience as a chef for the Margaritaville and Compadre's Mexican restaurant chains. The only Mexican owner in the center, Padilla says the center's food chains translate into business for him, especially at lunch time when the 2,000 employees from the Social Security office come looking for sustenance. "People come for different food and here they can find any food. It's a good mix," he says.

Indeed the center does seem a successful blend of neighborhood services. Customers can wash clothes, develop and buy film, pick up prescriptions, buy food, cigarettes, clothing, shoes and beauty care products, get checks cashed and eat to their heart's content. Soon they will be able to purchase automotive supplies from Chief Auto Parts. The retailer, according to the center's manager, will locate in the space left vacant by Hollywood Video.