Retail Therapy: Disney Store reopens, Daiso products arrive and more

The local shopping scene has quite a few changes to catch you up on this week.

There are new places to shop, store moves and other changes happening. Consider this a sort of shopping cart of retail news.

The Disney Store

After closing for renovations for several months, the Disney Store at Fashion Fair mall has reopened.

It looks a bit different now with a “pixie dust trail” — a blue walkway complete with a few sparkles — leading customers through the store.

Customers who look up while shopping will see images of Fresno, including the Fresno “best little city in the U.S.A” sign on Van Ness in downtown Fresno.

The changes also include a castle little ones can walk through, big blue trees and a theater area with a 90-inch screen. Kids can pick out music videos and movie trailers that are played on a 90-inch screen.

The store also now does an “unlock imagination” ceremony each morning when the store opens at 10 a.m. One child gets chosen to participate, symbolically turning a giant key in a lock and is getting a replica key to take home.

Daiso

Something kitschy and different is happening at Central Fish at 1535 Kern St. in downtown Fresno. The grocery store and lunch spot has added a Japanese version of a dollar store.

The Daiso section opened on the second floor of the business last week. Everything in it costs $1.69 and has a colorful, fun twist on traditional dollar store items.

Shoppers will find polka dot waste baskets, the familiar lucky cat waving its paw, towels with animal faces on them and erasers in the shape of lobsters and fruit. The store also carries more practical items such as screw drivers.

Daiso is a company with stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Fresno location is more of a Daiso section than a store and is officially dubbed FRiEndS kNOw.

Lifeway

The LifeWay Christian Store in River Park, formerly Berean, is closing and relocating to central Fresno.

The existing store has closed already and it will reopen June 30 at 5336 N. Blackstone Ave., a few doors down from Trader Joe’s. The manager says the new place is roughly the same size.

This store will have a different kind of grand opening. The first 20 pastors who bring their business cards will get free bibles July 3. And Veggie Tales characters Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber visit the store July 11, with SuperHero LarryBoy visiting July 25, both from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.

Hobby Lobby

The Hanford Hobby Lobby craft store officially opens Monday, June 22, after a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting. The store is at the corner of West Lacey Boulevard and 12th Avenue in Centennial Plaza.

And if you’re looking forward to the Fresno Hobby Lobby opening, you’ve got some waiting to do. Work has barely started and the store, which will be on Blackstone Avenue north of Sierra Avenue, is slated to open during the first three months of 2016.

This story was originally published June 20, 2015 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Retail Therapy: Disney Store reopens, Daiso products arrive and more."