After nearly three decades on Blackstone Avenue near Auto Center Drive, Burlington is making a move to River Park.
The discount retailer — once known as the Burlington Coat Factory — will open in the shopping center, next to Marshall’s in what used to be a Buy Buy Baby store. The space has been empty since the store closed in 2023, but those paying attention may have noticed when Burlington signage went up last year.
The store officially opens (like, with a ribbon-cutting celebration) April 17, during which it will present a $5,000 donation to the teachers at Pinedale Elementary School, as is company habit. It donated to Mountain View Elementary School for the grand opening of its Herndon Avenue store in Clovis in 2023.
As a bonus for the opening celebration, the first 100 customers on Friday (April 17) and Saturday (April 18) will get a $10 bonus card for purchases.
The new Burlington is scheduled to open April 17 at River Park. Photographed Tuesday, March 31, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com A reimagined store design
The River Park store is built on a reimagined design for Burlington; with wider, better organized aisles and signage for “easier navigation to the latest must-have trends,” according to a release from the company. Burlington hopes to convert all of state’s 124 store to this format in 2026.
“Opening a new, modernized store in Fresno is an exciting step for us as we continue expanding Burlington locations nationwide,” CEO, Michael O’Sullivan, said in the release. “We look forward to giving local Fresno customers the chance to explore great savings, find fresh brands, and experience our new and improved store design.”
Burlington started out selling off-price coats from a factory building in Burlington, New Jersey.
Hence, the name, which changed in 2009 to reflect an intentional move toward other merchandise (including clothes and footwear, accessories, home, toys and gifts. It still has coats). These days, the store sees new merchandise from a variety of well known brands, coming in each week, which it offers at up to 60% off retailers’ prices, according to the company.
A history on Blackstone Avenue
Burlington opened its first San Joaquin Valley story in Fresno in 1998, when it took over a 67,000-square-foot former Best Products store on Blackstone Avenue and Auto Center Drive. It became the anchor store for the shopping center, which became known as Burlington Plaza, according to a story in The Fresno Bee.
At the time, the company pitched itself as “the largest retailer of coats in the nation with about 10,000 outerwear in a typical store,” The Bee wrote, while noting it had “evolved into a full-line department store-style operation,” a hint of things to come.
Burlington now operates five stores in the Fresno area: at River Park Shopping Center, at the Marketplace at El Paseo and at Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Winery Avenue in Fresno; and at Shaw and Villa avenues and Herndon and Willow avenues in Clovis.
The new Burlington is scheduled to open April 17 at River Park. Photographed Tuesday, March 31, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
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Joshua Tehee covers breaking news for The Fresno Bee, writing on a wide range of topics from police, politics and weather, to arts and entertainment in the Central Valley.