At least three businesses are coming to Ceres to fill buildings abandoned by previous businesses which failed to meet the bottom line.
Retrofitting is taking place at the former KFC/A&W restaurant for an El Pollo Loco. Located at the northwest corner of Hatch and Mitchell, the building has been vacant for over a year.
Data trackers note over 312 KFC locations have shuttered across the country over a recent 12-month stretch, marking roughly a 7.64 percent reduction in stores. California lost the most restaurants with 44 permanent closures, followed by Texas at 34 and Ohio at 18.
El Pollo Loco has two locations in Modesto and one in Riverbank but its entry to Ceres will be the first. The restaurant began in Sinaloa, Mexico in 1975 and made its debut in the United States in 1980, first opening in Los Angeles. In May 1990, El Pollo Loco opened its 200th restaurant. Today there are approximately 390 to 400 El Pollo locations in California, which makes up about 79 percent of the chain’s footprint in the United States.
Farther down Hatch Road toward the freeway at 1450 E. Hatch Road, Burlington Coat Factory is readying the building that was abandoned by 99 Cents Only in 2024. That chain declared bankruptcy and closed the store.
In June Burlington was successful in getting the Ceres Planning Commission to agree to larger wall-mounted signage which city staff felt was too big for the building. Burlington won approval for a sign that covers 267.1 square feet of the building. The Ceres Municipal Code formula for building signage would have limited Burlington to sign of approximately 122.91 square feet.
The applicant claimed a larger sign was necessary due to the width of the building’s façade, its setback from Hatch Road, and the design characteristics of the Burlington trademarked branding, including the use of predominantly lowercase lettering and a tagline.
Burlington operates over 1,100 stores across 46 states and Puerto Rico, making it one of the largest off-price chains in the country alongside competitors like TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less. The company plans to open around 100 net new locations annually and a long-term target of roughly 2,000 stores.
Burlington Coat Factory, Inc., originally known as Burlington Coat Factory, began in 1972 when Monroe and Henrietta Milstein opened a single discount coat shop in Burlington, NJ. The founders focused on offering quality outerwear at prices far below traditional department stores, a model that gained traction quickly. Over the decades the company broadened its merchandise beyond coats to include women’s, men’s and children’s apparel, footwear, accessories, home décor, beauty items and more.
Burlington’s product assortment is designed to attract a broad consumer base that seek brand-name merchandise at significant discounts — often up to 60 percent below typical department store prices.
Across the street the building that once housed Carl’s Jr. is nearly unrecognizable as a new Chase Bank branch.
In February JPMorganChase announced plans to open more than 160 new branches in over 30 states and renovate nearly 600 locations this year as part of a multibillion-dollar investment to expand access to affordable and convenient financial services nationwide.
This milestone continues Chase’s multiyear growth strategy, announced in 2024, to open more than 500 new branches, renovate 1,700 locations and hire 3,500 employees across the country over three years.
Founded in in Los Angeles in 1941 by husband-and-wife team Carl and Margaret Karcher, Carl’s Jr. grew to thousands of locations but has been closing underperforming stores here and there. One Carl’s Jr. franchisee, Harshad Dharod, is trying to close and sell his 59 locations in California after filing for bankruptcy protection in April. The increase in the minimum wage to $20 an hour has hurt the fast food chain, experts in the field note. Others suggest the pricier menu cannot compete with more affordable chains like In-N-Out.
Still in operation in Ceres is the Carl’s Jr. at the corner of Mitchell Road and Whitmore Avenue.
The Rite Aid building on Mitchell Road remains vacant since its closure in 2024 following the chain’s bankruptcy in 2023.
The chain was doing better during the COVID-19 pandemic when vaccinations brought a lot of foot traffic into stores. But sales stagnated since at a time when Amazon offers the convenience of home delivery of many products sold in brick and mortar store. Rite Aid also faces stiff competition from CVS and Walgreens as well as supermarket and retail pharmacies like Walmart and Target.
