DSW store, Carter's coming to Fresno's Villaggio

By Bethany Clough - The Fresno Bee

Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 | 08:42 PM Modified Wed, Dec 28, 2011 07:33 AM

A DSW shoe store and a Carter's children's clothing store are scheduled to open in the Villaggio shopping center in July.

The new-to-Fresno stores are under construction in the shopping center on North Blackstone Avenue, between Ulta Beauty and the Ethan Allen Design Center, said Lewis Smith, a partner in Retail California, a commercial real estate brokerage.

DSW, short for Designer Shoe Warehouse, carries discounted shoes on its website ranging from $20 clearance sandals to Jimmy Choo heels on sale for $599.

The store has a big following, said Jeff Green, a Phoenix-based retail consultant who has worked in the Fresno area.

"DSW is perfect for your market," he said. "They tend to be trendy, fashion forward, with great prices."

The Columbus, Ohio-based company has 328 stores in 40 states and leases shoe departments inside 364 other retailers, according to the company.

The 18,000-square-foot Fresno location will be slightly smaller than DSW's typical 22,000-square-foot stores that carry about 24,000 pairs of shoes.

There are no other DSW stores in the central San Joaquin Valley.

Carter's currently has a store in the Tulare Outlet Center, but not in Fresno.

The brand of children's clothing is sold at other retailers, including JCPenney.

Carter's, which will have a 4,500-square-foot store in Fresno, does well in markets that tend to have larger families, like Fresno, Green said.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/12/27/2662331/dsw-shoe-store-carters-coming.html#storylink=cpy