VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Some big-name additions are making their way to the City of Visalia’s busiest intersection and providing one of Visalia’s oldest shopping malls with a much-needed upgrade. 

The Sequoia Mall at Caldwell and Mooney Boulevard in Visalia is one of the city’s oldest shopping malls and is relatively quiet these days.

Empty tables and empty storefronts make up the mall, but that will soon change with two anchor stores on the horizon. The big retailers to come are Nordstrom Rack and Sprouts.

“So we’re excited to see more development coming in… kind of bringing this place back to life,” said Visalia Mayor Brian Poochigian.

Mayor Poochigian is a longtime resident of Visalia and says he remembers when this mall was bustling with big-name stores that are now a part of the retail history books.  

“Mervyn’s was here… Sears was here… it kind of dates me when I say these places… so it brings life to this development and we’re really excited about it,” Mayor Poochigian reminisced.

Mayor Poochigian credits previous city councils with providing a development plan to keep Visalia’s inner core and downtown areas thriving.  

The long-term general plan was designed in a way to prevent the urban sprawl seen in other growing cities.  

“We really look at infill so we don’t have sprawl and empty property throughout our city so that’s why we have our general plan in place,” Mayor Poochigian explained.

As work continues on the Sequoia Mall’s newest tenants, other retailers like Hobby Lobby remain open.

There has been no reopening date set for the remainder of the mall which has been closed for renovations since March.