By Mike Hazlip–
After months of anticipation Joann Fabrics has opened their new location in the Sunrise Village shopping center, at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Madison Avenue.
The store’s general manager, Eric Payne, told The Sentinel the new Joann store is twice the size of the previous footprint in the same shopping center. Payne said the response from the community has been positive for the new location, which features better lighting and uses technology to reduce wait times at the cut bar.
The Citrus Heights location is the eighth remodeled store for the corporation, and the first of 2022, Payne said. The modernized Joann uses bright lighting to help shoppers better see thread and fabric colors and the larger space also allows for specialty fabrics.
The location originally planned to open last October following the demolition of the Benihana in March of 2021.
The Sunrise Village shopping center has been undergoing extensive construction work and plans show a grocery anchor will occupy the former Joann suite, which was located next door to the new location.
Two sources with knowledge about renovation plans told The Sentinel previously that Amazon-owned Whole Foods is a potential tenant for the former Joann’s space, but The Sentinel was not able to confirm the reports. Reports by ABC 10 and the Sacramento Bee show Amazon Fresh is positioned to expand in the Sacramento region, with one store confirmed to be opening in Roseville.
According to leasing information for Sunrise Village, a new City Sports will also be opening a 36,000-square-foot fitness club in the center next to Rite Aid, although an opening date has not been announced.
Large archway signage branding the center as “Sunrise Village” was also approved to be added across two of the center’s driveways. Approvals also included “significant exterior enhancements” to the facades of existing buildings, along with canopies above walkways, the creation of outdoor patio spaces and modifications to the existing roofline.
