You may have heard, Tim Sheenan of the Bee is reporting that Johnny Rockets in River Park is closing. Rockets management says River Park management is encouraging them to leave because Johnny Rockets attracts teens. Plus with the tough economy, Rockets is only breaking even - wasn't worth the fight anymore.
Oh boy, a major restaurant in River Park not making money. Yep, looks like the demise of another outdoor mall in Fresno has begun. But what happened to, um, River Park Mall? We can't blame it all on the economy. There must be other reasons.
That's why we have put together some totally original ideas that will save Fresno's beloved open air mall. They may sound familiar but, umm, like, totally came out of nowhere:
- Better signage directing traffic to parking and where garages are.
- Trim back the trees so we can see the storefronts - too much shade.
- There are too many homeless people teens asking you for money to buy them tickets to a rated R movie, get rid of them.
- Improve nightlife with more restaurants staying open late.
- Too many fountains and too much artwork. Tear it all out, they don't make money.
- Open up lofts above the storefronts. People can live above Wavelengths and Yoshinos, Edwards, Big Dog...
- A river. Yes, build a river that would run through River Park.
- Open the mall to traffic. Fresnans hate to park away from the place they're going too. If people could just drive right up to a Chocolate Factory or Dai Bai Dang or Jamba Juice, business would boom.
- Start a committee to study and conduct some meetings about studying the mall and agree to meet about it.
We are convinced, once these ideas are implemented, they will surely solve Fulton Mall's River Park's problems.
[Disclosure: Tounge was half implanted in cheek during the writing of this post]
[Picture was stolen from Carlos Guzman]
