Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

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Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by RLM » Fri Dec 08, 2023 10:28 am

Richard Frey wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:58 pm
The developer of Manchester Mall was named Chester "Chet" Bergfield. The land from Blackstone east to Fresno Street and from Shields north to Dakota was owned by Fresno State College. The plan was for Fresno State College to vacate its campus where Fresno City College currently is and move to this new location. There was sufficient land for all of the buildings and some land for agriculture. When Chet Bergfield made such a good offer, it was a "no brainer" as one on the committee once said to me. At the current location of Fresno State College, there is much more land for buildings, sports and agriculture. In order to get a large store with lots of draw to the new shopping center, Chet had to sell some of the land to Sears so that Sears could build their own store on their own land. This is why Sears used to be separated from the rest of the mall by a roadway. Prior to this, Sears was located on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. The land not used for the shopping center was developed for relatively inexpensive new housing.
Thanks for the great history.😊👍🏽

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by benzlere » Sat Dec 17, 2022 7:49 pm

Perry Boys was a great place as a kid would chow down on the chicken, and the Chicken Pie Store, also the one on Olive were great for the Chicken Pie.

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by RachelM » Wed Aug 24, 2022 2:30 pm

Yes, I remember that stationary/card store from late 80s/early 90s. Small gifts and such. Don't remember what it was called, but it was on a side wing of Manchester Mall - not in the middle.

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by perennial millennial » Mon Aug 01, 2022 1:32 pm

So I am a bit younger than most here, but was hoping someone with better memory would be willing to help me out? I recall going with my parents to a store downstairs at Manchester with a window in the back facing a parking lot. They reminded me a bit of Hallmark, selling wedding and/or baby themed products. This would have been during the early-mid nineties, and while I can't prove it, get the feeling they didn't last much longer. It might have been replaced by another store, and if so, it must have been something I had no interest in, since even the location I've never been to a second time...

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by Iclouduser » Sun Apr 03, 2022 11:49 am

I remember Annie Laurie’s ice cream parlor at the shopping center at Palm and Shaw. The coffee ice cream was the best I’ve ever had. The Fresno Community Bank was at that center too as was
CashionCarry, (which sounded like Cash and Carry). I don’t remember the name of the restaurant that was there but I really liked their Roquefort salad dressing. There was a grocery store at that center too. What I really appreciated was that when you went into a store, the sales persons were friendly and would chat with you. I’ve ever found this in other cities. Does anyone remember the Californian Hotel? When we moved to Fresno, we stayed there briefly until our house was ready.

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by Joseph » Sat May 29, 2021 5:41 pm

Well, being in my 60s, I remember when fashion fair was built. When they first built the mall, Macy’s was not in the first phase of development. It wasn’t built until they tore down the old Sunset Drive in that used to occupy the area where Macy’s is now at the end of the mall. I also remember a very high end restaurant called The Velvet Turtle being in the fashion fair parking Lot in about the same area where Flemings, cheesecake factory, and BJ’s are present day. It was quite expensive in it’s day, and didn’t last very long. I believe it went on to later be a Hungry Hunter restaurant? At least that’s how I remember it. Does anybody else remember that?

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by Richard Frey » Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:58 pm

The developer of Manchester Mall was named Chester "Chet" Bergfield. The land from Blackstone east to Fresno Street and from Shields north to Dakota was owned by Fresno State College. The plan was for Fresno State College to vacate its campus where Fresno City College currently is and move to this new location. There was sufficient land for all of the buildings and some land for agriculture. When Chet Bergfield made such a good offer, it was a "no brainer" as one on the committee once said to me. At the current location of Fresno State College, there is much more land for buildings, sports and agriculture. In order to get a large store with lots of draw to the new shopping center, Chet had to sell some of the land to Sears so that Sears could build their own store on their own land. This is why Sears used to be separated from the rest of the mall by a roadway. Prior to this, Sears was located on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. The land not used for the shopping center was developed for relatively inexpensive new housing.

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by Jtorres » Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:10 pm

Someone reminded me, it was Woolworths

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by Jtorres » Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:37 pm

I remember sbarros pizza was in the middle in the mall (I think close to where hollister is now) there was a store next door to sbarros that had a downstairs also. Does anyone remember this? What was the name of it?

Re: Fashion Fair and Manchester Center retailers of the past

by Fly girl » Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:01 pm

Metro Stereo next to Granite Brothers jewelry store

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