Glassmann Planning Associates of Torrance has submitted a design review permit with the Citrus Heights Planning Department for exterior updates to the former Rite Aid building. A project drawing shows the front fascia will reflect the general colors and design of the rest of the remodeled shopping plaza. Courtesy photo

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Several new businesses are planning to open soon in the Sunrise Village shopping center in Citrus Heights, including Grocery Outlet, which has filed plans with the Citrus Heights planning department to open in the vacant former Rite Aid drug store.

The parent company of Joann (formerly known as Joann Fabrics) announced in late February that it is closing all its 800 stores nationwide, including Citrus Heights, after failing to find a buyer after emerging from federal bankruptcy. Joann Fabrics opened its new location in Sunrise Village shopping center in March 2022 at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Madison Avenue.

Owners of the new Grocery Outlet, doing business as Grocery Outlet LLC, submitted a design review permit for the vacant retail space at 5409 Sunrise Blvd., as of Jan. 30.

Glassmann Planning Associates of Torrance has submitted a design review permit with the Citrus Heights Planning Department for exterior updates to the former Rite Aid building. A project drawing shows the front fascia will reflect the general colors and design of the rest of the remodeled shopping plaza.

Sunrise Village Plaza at the corner of Madison Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights is owned by the San Francisco-based Merlone-Geier investment company. 

The former Rite Aid drug store was the only substantial portion of the 14.8-acre shopping plaza that was included in a major remodeling project that began in 2021.

Redevelopment of the 150,000-square-foot Sunrise Village shopping center has been ongoing since the first quarter of 2021.

A Public Notice of Application to Sell Alcoholic Beverages sign is now displayed in the store window by the new owner, Grocery Outlet LLC, in a “premises-to-premises, inter-county district transfer with change in license privileges.” The former Rite Aid also had a license to sell alcoholic beverages at the location.

Grocery Outlet currently has another store in Citrus Heights, located at 6059 Greenback Lane. Grocery Outlets are all locally-owned stores, which allows the grocer to deliver “superior customer service,” according to the company’s website.

CoSol Commercial Real Estate, based in Modesto, is listed as the broker of record for the Grocery Outlet location. Glassman Planning Associates is listed as the applicant for the design review permit. Representatives for CoSol and Glassman Planning Associates did not respond by press time to a request for comment concerning the project.

An architectural rendering of the new Grocery Outlet Store’s exterior provided by Glassman Planning Associates follows the general design of surrounding buildings in the plaza. 

A popular frozen yogurt chain, Pinkberry, is returning to Citrus Heights, several years after shuttering a prior location next to Chipotle at 5855 Sunrise Blvd., on the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Macy Plaza Drive in the Target shopping center.

Sunrise Marketplace Executive Director Kathilynn Carpenter confirmed that a new Pinkberry, which offers frozen yogurt bowls with customizable toppings, is scheduled to open between Sourdough & Co and Teriyaki to Go in Sunrise Village but could not confirm an opening date. 

Juice Time is also scheduled to open between the Starbucks coffee shop and Firehouse subs at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Madison Avenue, said Tiffany Clement, property manager at Merlone Geier Management in Rancho Cordova.

Across the plaza, a new specialty bakery, Nothing Bundt Cakes, a Las Vegas, Nevada-based chain which has more than 600 locations across the country, signed a lease to open in a 2,030-square-foot space in the same building as a Little Caesars Pizza, which faces into the plaza, according to Clement.

Sunrise Village has seen multiple recent new tenants, including Club Studio Fitness, which opened in September 2024, and Amazon Fresh, which opened in November 2024.

A separate remodeled building in the Sunrise Village shopping center facing Uplands Way that was originally listed in Merlone Geier Management leasing materials as a Milano Nail Salon is now listed as available for lease.