The closures keep coming. Stores and restaurants calling it quits in Fresno, Clovis

The closures are coming fast and hard.

The Fresno business community has been hit with several waves of closures recently, including Fulton Street Coffee downtown and a Blast & Brew in north Fresno , along with several Mexican restaurants . Even the beloved longtime Javier’s Mexican Restaurant has shut down .

Many face the same challenges: inflation pushing up prices of food and other supplies, a new law that bumped fast food workers pay to $20 an hour, climbing real estate and energy costs, and regulations.

Of course, every store and restaurant closure is unique. Some are strictly high-end, and the luxury market is slowing down; another stems from ongoing issues with their individual lease; and several places are closing one location, leaving others open.

And it’s not all bad news. Three restaurants in Fresno recently opened second locations , including The Bakery by Indulge Right Foods, LA Kitchen and Loving Seed.

Some of the closed locations already have new restaurants going in.

But as for the closures, here’s a look at the ones we’ve lost recently.

The Brunch Bar

The all-day breakfast and brunch restaurant with seven kinds of mimosas at Herndon and Willow avenues in Clovis has closed. The Brunch Bar opened in May of last year, with lots of pink and Champagne decor on the walls. It tried live music on Sundays this summer, but later closed.

The owner did not return a message about why.

The lease for the space, in an outbuilding in front of Target, has already been taken over by another restaurant.

Rustika Cafe and Bakery is moving in. It’s a partnership with a company in Texas that has four locations there.

It’s a breakfast and lunch restaurant, plus a bakery. Its founder is Mexican and of Jewish European descent. So the menu has familiar favorites like chilaquiles, fresh-baked croissants, omelets, crepes, sandwiches, tacos and more.

The bakery will also make cakes, giant cookies and chicken mole empanadas.

It will open in the coming weeks, possibly by the end of October, according to the owner.

Starving Artists Bistro

This popular north Fresno restaurant known for hosting live music and artists closed abruptly this week.

“It is with sorrow in our hearts and tears in our eyes that we are announcing the permanent closure of Starving Artists Bistro ,” the owners said in a Facebook post .

They did not return a message seeking comment, but said in their post that it was time to say goodbye “for a number of private reasons.”

The post went on: “When Covid nearly did us in with labor and food shortages, we struggled and rallied. However, since then, the rules, regulations and laws that have been imposed on the restaurant industry over the last many years (along with horrible inflation and continuing food and staff shortages) has broken us. We simply cannot maintain the quality of food and service our customers rightfully expect.”

It opened nearly 12 years ago at Friant and Fort Washinton roads as not just a restaurant, but a place that showcased local artists. It hosted more than 2,200 performers, helped sell 260 works of art and employed 190 people over the years, according to its post.

The location is already up for lease , with an advertised rent of more than $4,800 a month.

Furniture City Design Studio

This is the store that in 2021 took over the former 54,000-square-foot Orchard Supply Hardware spot on Blackstone Avenue, north of Barstow Avenue. Furniture City Design Studio was the high-end version of Fresno-based Furniture City , located just south of Barstow Avenue. The original Furniture City is staying open.

But the luxury version of the store is closing. No date has been announced, but the location, still fully stocked with dining and bedroom sets, has started liquidating. It’s promising deals of up to 90% off.

Furniture City’s owner declined to comment on why it was closing.

But the luxury market is getting hit with the same challenges affecting discount stores: Shoppers are pulling back on spending. It saw a slowdown in the first few months of 2024, according to Bain & Company’s Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study.

Sceptre & Sash

The store selling pre-owned luxury handbags, jewelry, luggage and more in north Fresno is closing.

“This is totally a liquidation sale. Everything that is in the store is being sold,” said Stephanie Foster, part of the family that owns the business.

That includes merchandise from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Rolex and Cartier, along with gold and diamond jewelry.

Sceptre & Sash was at Champlain Drive and Shepherd Avenue for eight years.

The company that owns it, Fresno Coin Gallery , is still open. It’s scheduled to get a face lift and sell some of the same luxury goods at its location at Blackstone and Gettysburg avenues.

Why close the north location?

“Ultimately, because of thin margins on luxury and the high costs of being a brick-and-mortar jewelry store,” she said, including costs such as rent and security.

The Fresno Coin Gallery, whose building the company owns, and its pawn shop at the same location, will remain open, along with its stores in Visalia and downtown Fresno.

“Fresno Coin as a company is doing well, employing as many people as ever,” said Foster, adding that no one was laid off as part of the changes.

Crave Cookie

The locally owned giant cookie maker closed its northwest Fresno location in late September. Crave Cookie opened its first storefront in the Marketplace at El Paseo in 2021, serving freshly baked, still-warm cookies at the counter and its drive-thru.

The owner didn’t return a call from The Bee, but a Facebook post said the location closed “ due to some unforeseen circumstances with our lease .”

The company, which got its start doing home delivery, is still going strong. Its Clovis location at Sunnyside and Tollhouse avenues remains open.

The trend of giant cookies has taken off in recent years, with several of the nationally franchised Crumbl Cookies coming to the area after locally owned Crave Cookie opened. A Crumbl Cookie also opened in the same shopping center as the closed Crave Cookie, in 2023.

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