They're both located in The Commons at the Madera Fair on Cleveland Avenue near Schnoor.
Action News saw several shoppers enjoying the grand opening today of the new Rue 21 store. They're happy to have another option here in Madera, and local leaders are happy to keep the tax dollars in the community.
The new Rue 21 clothing and accessories store in Madera stayed busy with shoppers looking for deals on its opening day.
"it's a really great store, it's completely different than a lot of other stores, it's cheap, and it has a lot of good clothing you'll find in highly expensive stores," shopper Arielle Wessels said.
But the biggest draw for many customers is avoiding the drive to Fresno to find the fashion they want.
"Yeah, Fresno's really far 30 minutes. So it's better just to come here, 5 minutes, it just takes me 5 minutes," shopper Jessica Sierra said.
Local leaders say Madera has been underserved by national retailers for a long time. But they're hoping this new store and the 24-thousand square foot Marshall's that's opening soon next door will help keep sales tax dollars in the community. The two new businesses have also created about 125 jobs.
"We had over 22-hundred people apply for these jobs, so it shows people are looking for jobs, there's a need for jobs, and they're anxious to have whatever job they can get their hands on whether it be a full time or part time job," Bobby Kahn of the Madera Co. Economic Dev. Commission said.
The new additions are also good news for the fairgrounds, which owns the entire shopping center property.
"It's definitely a positive for the fairgrounds because we want to have a strong bond with the shopping center, we're leasing the ground to the developer and obviously we want them to succeed, plus we want a thriving shopping center on our fairgrounds," Madera District Fair C.E.O. Scott Sample said.
The next grand opening here at the commons is coming up very soon. Marshall's opens August 2.
