Downtown business closing after 7 years in Fresno. It continues trend on a single block

Back in November, Cassey and Kirk James found themselves at a crossroads between family and business.

Their son, Otis, turned 1 year old just as Root, the business they built in downtown Fresno, was celebrating its seventh anniversary.

“Owning a retail store, a small business in general, it’s a 24-hour job,” Cassey James says.

And it was keeping them from being as present as they wanted to be in Otis’ life. When the lease came up on the business’s storefront, the couple took it as a sign.

“The timing seemed appropriate,” Cassey James says.

Root will be closing its doors Jan. 14, after six years at the Warnors Theater Complex.

The store announced the closure on its social media Monday.

“The time has come to say goodbye.

“We have created endless memories and relationships over the years that we will cherish forever, and now want to spend more time doing the same with our family. We are so thankful for our downtown community and everyone who has shown us support over the years!”

Root opened in 2016 next to Peeves’ Public House in a tiny space on what used to be the Fulton Mall.

Within a year, the shop moved and expanded into a 1,500-square-foot space at the Warnors Theatre Complex. The store was known for being pro-downtown, printing signature T-shirts with sayings like “Fulton Street: the real main drag in the heart of Fresno, Calif.” or “Sigueme a Fresno,” “Downtown Swim Club” or simply ... “The Future is Fresno.”

The store is currently closed until the New Year, but will reopen for a final two weeks to sell off its inventory, along with fixtures and some other larger pieces. The couple won’t be continuing the online store, but says they might look for ways to continue the brand “once the fog clears and the dust settles.”

“Root as a concept might live on,” Cassey James says.

For now, they hope that leaving the space might provide opportunities for others to carry on the work they started in downtown.

“Sometimes you just need someone to see it first,” she says.

The latest turnover at the Warnors Complex

Root isn’t the only tenant to be leaving the theater complex.

The novelty boutique Scraps closed its brick-and-motor shop on Christmas and the bookseller 1418 shut down earlier this month. Modern Farm and vintage shop Friends of Yours also did not renew leases, leaving Fulton Street Coffee as the center’s sole outside tenant.

What will fill those vacant spaces is somewhat up in the air, says Ron Thomas, the president of the board of the Warnors Center for the Performing Arts.

The goal is to make “Warnors corner” as they call it, a destination.

Because of the historic nature of the building, some types of businesses — a full-service restaurant, for example — aren’t logistically compatible, but the board is open to suggestions.

“That’s something we should probably ask the public,” he says.

“The community is really what should drive that answer.”

This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 3:08 PM.