Cinderella Cellar moves out of the basement

The Cinderella Cellar no longer is in a cellar.

The bridal shop that Doreen Monis-Wright has run out of her basement for 18 years has moved into a new, larger space at the Mission Village shopping center. The new shop opened in August at Shaw Avenue and Fresno Street.

It's more than four times bigger than the previous space and includes multiple dressing rooms and a viewing area with seating and large mirror.

The Cinderella Cellar sells new and used bridal gowns, and rents gowns.

It sells traditional popular gowns, along with a vintage-inspired line of dresses patterned after styles from the 1920s through the 1940s.

It also carries a line of modest dresses. Many area brides seek dresses that have sleeves and higher-than-average necklines, due to restrictions at certain places of worship, Monis-Wright said.

Unlike some bridal shops, The Cinderella Cellar does not require customers to make appointments to try on dresses.

"There are no rules here," she said. "I just want the girls to feel comfortable and enjoy their time here."

Blind ambitions

Z Blinds Co., a Fresno producer of blinds and window treatments, is expanding into custom draperies with the acquisition of another Fresno company, Via Finestra Drapery & Upholstery.

Z Blinds CEO Levon Zekian said Via Finestra's operations, formerly housed in northwest Fresno near Ashlan Avenue and Highway 99, is being merged into the 10,000-square-foot Z Blinds showroom and production plant on P Street, in downtown Fresno near the Amtrak station.

Zekian said the Z Blinds plant will be updated to handle drapery production.

Zekian said the acquisition brings two companies' worth of experience and employees to Z Blinds.

Terry's Upholstery was started in 1960 by owner Terry Zimmerman on Belmont Avenue in southeast Fresno. Zimmerman died in 1997 and the business later closed, Zekian said, but Zimmerman's employees remained together and joined Via Finestra about 10 years ago.

A smaller Walmart

Walmart has submitted plans for a future Walmart Supercenter to the city of Clovis, and they do not include a tire and lube express department as originally proposed.

The store, which will be an anchor for a shopping center at Highway 168 and Herndon Avenue, was stalled for eight years by a lawsuit over water and urban blight concerns. This summer, the Fifth District Court of Appeal cleared the way for work to begin.

The new store will be 191,422 square feet, smaller than the original 212,000-square-foot proposal, Walmart spokeswoman Amelia Neufeld said.

The change is due to the removal of the tire and lube center that was included in the original plan, said city of Clovis building official Mark Meyers.

When asked why Walmart removed the tire and lube center, Neufeld said: "The decision was made as part of our efforts to ensure that the size and merchandise and product mix at this store reflected the shopping needs and desires of Clovis residents."

This story was originally published October 2, 2011 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Cinderella Cellar moves out of the basement."