I totally agree with ibadtopher,Fresno has a long way to go,,SO many social problems in Fresno...And once again the city is trying to revive the downtown area,JUst leave it alone clean up the streets and the blythe going to downtown,,so we don't have to lock our car doors getting there,,IF the city would let business people paint ,clean up the extisting bldgs,and not restrict them from all the permits and poltics,It would probably take off,,Get rid of all the red tape,,after all business people know what to make a business thrive,Use that money to clean and paint the bldgs,,use iniment dominion to get rid those ugly on the way to downtown,,,Opening the fulton street is waste of money,,,,I notice one example the developer that has made a great difference in downtown fresno he has build those condo's ina once bad area,,,we need a corridor to connect to these new bldg, the ballfield,the condos,ect...

How about, as another possible large retailer, the City of Fresno and developers consider Fry's Electronics? I haven't heard anyone say anything about them, and they are one of the best electronics retailers in the nation.

You have very good arguments for not "moving" to Fresno, but what does that have to do with locating a business in Fresno? The employees of any retail business, with the possible exception of a manager, are going to come from the ranks of people already living in Fresno. The only reasons for not locating a business in Fresno are money and/or perception.

Most high end retailers don't want to come to a place that has the worst reputation of any area in the state. Having lived in the central valley, the bay area, Shasta, L.A., Long Beach, and growing up in Orange County, I can say in my opinion that I would rather spend a year in Richmond or Compton than spend a week trapped in Fresno. It smells, the weather is either hot as all hell or near freezing, one of the largest and most violent gangs in the country is there, the inversion is so bad that the whole valley is rated as the worst place on the west coast for alergies, if your not born and raised in the central valley you more than likely will get valley fever and be afflicted with pneumonia so bad you will be bedridden every cold anf flu season... I could go on, but I will just say the entire central valley has a long way to go before any high end retailer will really consider coming there. P.S. There are 3 in n out's within 30 mins of Hanford (which is a dinky little town) and there are 5 within 10 mins of Fresno.