When Eddie Bauer opened in the Shasta Factory Outlet center nearly 20 years ago, business was booming at the Anderson shopping center.
The outdoor mall was coming off a record year for the number of visitors, welcoming an estimated 2.4 million people in 2006, eclipsing the former mark of 1.9 million set in 2002. Sales increased 6 percent over 2005.
Times have changed.
Now called Shasta Gateway, large swaths of empty store spaces are conspicuous there, especially along the southwest side of the shopping center.
Eddie Bauer, which opened in Anderson in April 2007, is the latest retailer to close there, though the decision is part of a bigger picture for the iconic retail brand. Eddie Bauer LLC and four of its affiliated debtors filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early February, resulting in the closure of all stores.
“What is happening with all those vacant stores over there? Is the owner of the property or Anderson City Council doing anything to entice new business there? I feel like we are becoming a ghost town! And I don’t want to drive to Redding all the time to shop or eat. I would like to stay local,” a “Buzz” reader stated in a recent email.
Grocery Outlet opened in the shopping in the summer of 2017 and the hope was its arrival would help bring more business to the shopping center.
But in 2024, Shasta Gateway suffered a big blow when Valley 11 Cinemas closed, saddening surrounding shopping center tenants and taking away Anderson’s only movie theater. The theater space on the east side of the center is still empty.
But there is optimism with the news that a new owner has taken over the center, according to Anderson Chamber of Commerce executive director Debe Hopkins.
“The gist is this company apparently buys up properties like outlet malls and their intention is to fill it up and turn it around, you could say flip it,” Hopkins told me.
Hopkins did not have the name of the new owner, but “they definitely want to make it better and rent out spaces. … It sounds like a good thing and the tenants I’ve talk to seem to think so,” she added.
Brandon Norton, of Monarch Commercial Advisors, told me that the buyer would like to talk about its plans, but the sale has not closed. “The proposed buyer does not want to prematurely make comment on the center before they actually own it,” he added.
Hopkins has been with the chamber for some 30 years, so she knows Anderson retail. She remembers the shopping center’s heyday when she said it was “an actual outlet mall,” with names like Mikasa, GAP, Polo, Florsheim Shoes, London Fog, and Tommy Hilfiger.
“Buses would come from San Francisco just to go to the Polo store,” she said. “So it really drew a lot of traffic.”
The outlet center opened in the late summer of 1990. Forty-nine stores were expected to be in the center “24 of which had signed leases” two weeks before opening day, according to a Record Searchlight article in August of that year.
For the record, that 1990 R-S article was packaged with an Associated Press story under the headline “Outlets are meccas for browsing, bargains.”
Despite the recent tough times, Hopkins is happy that landscaping is kept up and the maintenance team is still at work. The day I was there a worker was going door to door, vacuuming inside some of the vacant spaces.
“At least it’s not an eyesore,” Hopkins said.
Stay tuned.
From pub to Sunrise home improvement store in Redding
Sunrise Cabinets & Countertops has opened in the former Kelly’s Pub & Wine Bar space at 2144 Hilltop Drive.
The restaurant and bar closed in June 2025 after three years in business at that location.
Sunrise Cabinets co-owner Eric Yu said their business opened on March 20.
“This is our first Northern California location,” he said.
Like the name says, Sunrise sells, among other things, kitchen and bathroom cabinets and countertops. The business also contracts with a third-party to do installations, Yu said.
“I think the housing market is growing in Redding and the population,” he said of their decision to open in the North State.
Sunrise is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
Bantam officially says hello to the west side
The Bantam Kitchen & Cooler has christened its new location in west Redding with soft openings over the past couple of weekends.
Now the family-owned restaurant has officially opened.
Co-owner Kate Wood on Facebook on March 25 said the restaurant in Holiday Market shopping center on Placer Street opened Friday, March 27.
“We will do Friday, Saturday, 3 to 9 (p.m.), inside, outside at our new location. And then hopefully next week, we will go to our regular hours that we anticipate. … I’m really excited about the way this place looks; it’s really beautiful. We’re still The Bantam, we’re still family, we’re still hospitality, we’re still generosity, we’re still comfort food, we’re still crazy,” Wood said with a laugh. “Because you gotta be a little bit crazy to do this. This has been a long, kind of brutal journey to get here, but we are really excited to share this with you.”
Wood owns Bantam Kitchen with her husband, Joe Wood. They opened Honeymoon’s Kitchen last April in the Holiday Market center but closed it in September with plans to rebrand the space. They announced on Facebook on Jan. 24 they would relocate Bantam from Hartnell to the westside.
Their Hartnell restaurant closed in mid-February. Bantam also has a location in Redding Public Market.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Anderson outlet mall has new owner? Redding’s new kitchen, bath store
Reporting by David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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