The battle for supremacy in Redding’s crowded fast-casual chicken restaurant landscape continues to heat up.
A couple of weeks ago, I told you that Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers was taking the place of Chili’s at the soon-to-be-revived old Costco Wholesale property on Dana Drive.
Well, now entering the ring is a national franchise that one local realtor told me has been on the wish list of many.
Ken Miller, of Northstate Commercial Partners, told me that work has started on tenant improvements for a Wingstop in the former European Wax Center at the Safeway-Lowe’s shopping center in east Redding.
Much like Buffalo Wild Wings several years ago, Miller said he lost count on the number of times he was asked, 'can you please get a Wingstop in Redding?'
“It was probably one of the two, three calls I would get and it went on forever: Why don’t we have a Wingstop in Redding? And that I was personally responsible for it,” Miller said.
But we are still waiting for a Buffalo Wild Wings. More on that later.
The new home of Wingstop is just two doors down from Habit Burger Grill, so that side of the center at Churn Creek Road and East Cypress Avenue is about to get much busier.
“Habit does a crazy volume of business there,” Miller said.
Wingstop will join Raising Cane’s, Chick-fil-A, KFC, Popeyes, Chicken Shack and Wing Spot.
Miller told me that Wingstop has signed a lease for the 1,300-square-foot space and that he was told it would take about 72 days from when construction starts to get the place open. Which means Redding’s Wingstop could start greeting customers in June.
The smaller space is a sign of the times, Miller said. Like Panera Bread, which opened late last year in Redding, Wingstop has been rethinking its brick-and-mortar footprint.
Initially, Wingstop was looking at 2,000-square-foot space. “In the wake of COVID, people have been using all these food delivery services,” Miller said.
Wingstop looked at how much of their business is takeout or delivery versus how much is dine-in, and Miller said he was told dine-in business makes up about 20% of sales.
“They thought, ‘Why do we have all these tables if nobody is using them? We can get away with 1,300 square feet,”' Miller said.
Wingstop did not respond to an email sent to its media department.
Meanwhile, Miller said that Buffalo Wild Wings also is focusing on smaller versions of its sports bars as customers lean more toward takeout and delivery orders.
And they’ve been scouting the Redding market.
“They are basically in a big competition with Wingstop now. They are in the market and poking around for a spot (in Redding) as well,” Miller said.
Stay tuned.
New children's clothes, toy store wants your gently-used items
Once Upon a Child in Redding, a locally owned used children’s clothes, toys and other accessories store, recently opened.
But the store in the Village Plaza shopping center on Athens Avenue next to Sherwin-Williams Paint isn’t quite ready to start selling.
That can’t happen until Once Upon a Child has enough inventory to open their shelves to shoppers.
To do that, the store on March 12 opened its doors to the public, who have been bringing in clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books, highchairs and other things to sell back to Once Upon a Child.
Co-owner Emily Marr told me if they like the item, they will make an offer on the spot and pay the customer.
Marr owns the franchise with her husband, Andrew. The Marrs were living in Toronto when they discovered Once Upon A Child. They just had twins and were looking for an affordable kids' retail store. They moved to the North State in 2022 and discovered there was not a Once Upon A Child store in Redding.
Andrew told me it’s been a long journey, but they are excited to get open. The Marrs estimate that it will take about two months to stock the store, so they hope to have their grand opening sometime in May.
“The faster people come in and sell to us, the faster we can get to that point,” Emily said.
Right now, the store is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
More: The Buzz: This Mexican eatery has new name, is staying in the family. Redding Macy's safe?
So far, Emily said they have been getting a lot of clothes. Among the things they could use more of are highchairs, strollers and pack-and-play cribs.
Items the store will not buy back include car seats and bike helmets.
Veterans Village: 'Not on life support'
A few days after my update two weeks ago on the Veterans Village in Shasta Lake, project coordinator Brad Long gave me a call.
Long, of the Veterans Housing Development Corp., told me that they are committed to seeing the project through to completion.
Long said they have applied for about $4 million in low-income tax credits and should find out if they got them by this summer.
The project also has taken on a development partner, Kingdom Development, an affordable housing organization based in Riverside, Long said.
“They have 20-plus years in development and have done multiple low-income projects. They also have expertise in low-income tax credits,” Long said.
Long said he is as frustrated as anyone that the project has been beset by delays, from the COVID pandemic, the increase in material costs and rising interest rates to inflation.
Rising costs have pushed the project’s price tag to around $15 million, Long said.
The Veterans Village is planned for the corner of Locust and Meade streets behind the Dollar Tree south of Shasta Dam Boulevard. It’s a three-story, 30-unit complex that will house low-income veterans with disabilities.
BCM of Chico is the general contractor.
"It is not on life support. We are just bumping up the funds coming into it," Long said.
David Benda coversbusiness, developmentand 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, coverbreaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter@DavidBenda_RSor by phone at 530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, pleasesubscribetoday.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: The Buzz: Redding getting its first Wingstop
