Burlington opens new River Park store as Fresno shopping center refresh continues

River Park added another national retailer Friday as Burlington opened inside the former Buy Buy Baby space at 7458 N. Blackstone Ave., a move that underscores how much the northeast Fresno shopping center is still being rebuilt. Mayor Jerry Dyer joined shoppers for the opening, which gave the store a high-profile debut in one of Fresno’s busiest retail corridors.

The new store is Burlington’s third in Fresno and its first local location to feature the company’s new layout. It also marks a major relocation for a retailer that had spent 30 years at its Blackstone and Auto Center Drive location near Bullard before moving to River Park. Signs for the new store went up in late December, making the opening a visible part of the center for months before customers walked through the doors.

The Burlington opening fits into a wider refresh at River Park that has been unfolding for years. In 2023, the shopping center was already adding new retailers and changing tenant layouts, including Torrid and J. Crew Factory, while plaza renovations were also planned. More work is still coming, which means the latest opening is not just about filling a space but about updating the broader shopping experience around it.

That matters in a part of Fresno where retail performance is closely tied to how much people are willing to spend, how often they are willing to drive, and how many storefronts stay occupied. Filling the former Buy Buy Baby box with a discount chain gives River Park another reason for weekend traffic, and it adds another draw for nearby restaurants and businesses that benefit when shoppers linger longer in the center. A shopper from Sanger was among those drawn in for the opening, a reminder that River Park’s reach extends well beyond city limits.

For northeast Fresno, the signal is as important as the store itself. River Park’s continued investment suggests the center still sees room to compete for national chains and consumer dollars, not just reshuffle tenants. With renovations still ahead and a new Burlington now open, the shopping center is trying to keep its position as one of the Central Valley’s main retail destinations while Fresno shoppers decide where the next wave of spending will go.