Word on the Street: New stores aim to awaken mattress sales

There is no lying down on the job for mattress retailers in the area.

A Visalia company, Christian’s Mattress Xpress, and Fashion Furniture of Fresno have expanded their operations, one opening a mattress specialty store on Blackstone Avenue and the other debuting one in Clovis.

Christian’s Mattress Xpress is the newcomer to Fresno. It opened in a space that, ironically, formerly housed a mattress retailer, said Steve Rontell, a retail specialist at Colliers Tingey International who worked on the transaction.

The store is on Blackstone Avenue, just south of Bullard.

Christian’s also opened a 13,000-square-foot warehouse, showroom and store at Highway 99 and Manning Avenue in Fowler. That store, Christian’s Mattress Xpress Outlet Center, specializes in closeouts, specialty and surplus mattresses, said Ron Gonzales, owner.

The business is named after his son, Christian, a student at California State University, Fresno, who works in the company. It employs 12 people in the three locations and carries its own label, Jordon, which is named after Gonzales’ other son.

Gonzales and Fashion Furniture owner Rod Avedikian say they are capitalizing on opportunities in the marketplace. “Mattresses are like tires,” Avedikian said. “People always need them.”

As evidence, Fashion Furniture has opened an America’s Mattress store in a 3,500-square-foot building in the Target shopping center at Willow and Herndon avenues in Clovis.

On the move

Qdoba Mexican Grill is planning to expand its restaurants in the Valley, company officials said.

The casual chain has more than 480 restaurants nationwide and already has several locations in the Valley, including in Modesto, Atwater, Turlock and Clovis.

Local franchise owner Brandon Graspointner plans to open five Qdoba locations in the Fresno region and is currently scouting locations.

If everything falls into place, Graspointner will open two Fresno restaurants this year and three in the next two to three years.

Qdoba’s eclectic menu includes items such as an Ancho chile barbecue burrito, grilled veggie burrito, Mexican gumbo and pob- lano pesto burrito.

Fewer businesses being sold

The 388 businesses that changed hands in Fresno County last year was a 27% decline from 2008. Analysts blamed the dip on tight credit and financing.

“Limited access to capital has been a key factor,” said Peter Siegel, founder and CEO of bizben.com, which tracks small-business sales.

As expected, most of the activity occurred in Fresno, where 276 businesses found new owners. Clovis was significantly behind at 33, but almost every community had at least one transaction, according Siegel.

Sanger, Reedley, Kingsburg and Selma rounded out the top five in Fresno County at 18, 15, 11 and eight, respectively.

Statewide, 34% fewer businesses were sold.

The Fresno Bee