Visalia's Sequoia Mall will close March 31 for major renovation work that will transform the enclosed mall into more of an open-air format. Google Earth image

A Barnes & Noble bookstore will open later this year at Visalia’s Sequoia Mall, taking 16,000 square feet near Tulare County’s busiest intersection.

The shopping center features Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, Raising Cane’s and will soon include Nordstrom Rack, Sprouts Farmers Market, Sola Salon and more businesses that will continue to be announced as part of ongoing redevelopment of the property, said developer Jim Sanders of Paynter Realty this week.

The three big-name retailers new to Visalia will be lined up south to north at the reemerging shopping center — Sprouts, Nordstrom Rack and Barnes & Noble.

“With Barnes & Noble joining the Sequoia Mall, this also ushers in a new transition for the Sequoia Mall as the interior of the mall will be officially closing on March 31st, 2023, so that construction can begin,” said Sanders.

Sanders confirms that eight current tenants in the mall’s interior have been informed they need to move in March to allow for demolition. Sources say the air-conditioned, enclosed mall will be replaced by an open-air shopping center with a road lined by stores going down the middle. This design has not been confirmed by the developer.

The fate of the Sequoia Mall movie theater is still not known owner Regal Cinema continues to work through bankruptcy court hearings that started last fall The theater chain has closed scores of theaters across the U.S., including in Fresno. But no announcement as to what will happen to the two Regal Visalia theaters, at the mall or Downtown, has been made.

The theater will lose its main entrance in front of the mall with the demo work but retain its other two entrances to the rear of the mall.

Sequoia Mall is owned by Caldwell-Mooney Partners I, LP and managed by Paynter Realty & Investments, Inc.

“We are very excited to announce the next major addition to the ongoing redevelopment of the Sequoia Mall. Barnes & Noble will be joining the Sequoia Mall this winter. Barnes & Noble has proven the ability to achieve success in its omni-channel retail presence in both ‘bricks and mortar’ and e-commerce and will be a welcomed presence in Visalia and the greater Tulare County community. The future of the Sequoia Mall is bright as it will reopen, but for now, to make way for Barnes & Noble and more new, exciting retailers to come, the time has come to close the doors so that new doors can be opened in the future,” said David H. Paynter, president, Paynter Realty & Investments, Inc. and managing member of Caldwell-Mooney Partners I, LP.

The shopping center will have one more space to fill with the impending closure of Bed Bath and Beyond in coming weeks.

Barnes & Noble is the world’s largest retail bookseller, operating about 600 bookstores across the U.S.

Established in 1988, Paynter Realty & Investments, Inc. has developed over 3.6 million square feet of commercial building space during its 34 years of history and currently manages approximately 2 million square feet primarily in Central California. as mixed use and professional office buildings.