What you missed at the 2025 Economic Forecast

Cheers to another Friday, LinkedIn community. Thanks to everyone who joined us for the 2025 Economic Forecast at California State University-Sacramento this week

We presented the event in consultation with the Sacramento Business Review .

The review includes a survey of local small business leaders. It showed economic sentiment appears to be more upbeat for 2025, particularly in the categories of economic outlook, local business conditions, future revenue and the likelihood of respondents to hire.

The lowest sentiment locally was related to access to credit. That reflects interest rates that are higher than recent norms.

Learn more about the 2025 Economic Forecast in this article.

This week's conversation was led by Sanjay Varshney, PhD, CFA and Lisa Stanley . Panelists included Shelly Schorer , Will Austin , Christopher B. Cady and Joe Niehaus, CFA .

Here's what else you need to know this week.

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Macy's closing Sacramento fulfillment center

Macy's Inc. is permanently closing its fulfillment center at Capital Commerce Center, joining two of the retail giant's local stores set to shutter this year.

The New York-based company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification on Monday indicating it plans to close its approximately 400,000-square-foot facility at 6200 Franklin Blvd. in Sacramento, which employs 79 people. Read more

Colliers to handle sale, leasing on Intel's Folsom campus

Brokerage Colliers  is handling the sale and leasing of vacant space at Intel Corp.'s campus in the City of Folsom .

The chip giant at the end of November said it would sell its 1.5 million-square-foot Folsom campus and lease back just the space it needs as it tries to raise money.

Intel spokeswoman Addy Burr confirmed to the Business Journal that Colliers would handle the sale of the property, while also handling the leasing on the 150-acre Folsom campus.

Learn more in this article by reporter Mark Anderson .

Owners of Whitey's Jolly Kone opening West Sac cafe

The operators of West Sacramento's Whitey's Jolly Kone are adding a new cafe in a vacant space in the city's Heritage Oaks Park.

Whitey's has been serving hamburgers and milkshakes out of its roadside stand at the corner of Jefferson Boulevard and 13th Street since 1963.

The business was founded by Emile "Whitey" Boisclair, who later passed it on to his daughter and son-in-law Paula and Steve Ericson. Last year, the Ericsons' children, Jennifer Havson and Kevin Ericson, took over operations, along with their significant others.

Kevin Ericson said the group is in the process of opening a new eatery and espresso bar called Emile's Cafe at 1300 Lake Washington Blvd. in the City of West Sacramento .

Learn more in this article by reporter Jacob Abbott .

Local real estate projects to watch in 2025

It's that time again.

Senior Reporter Ben van der Meer has compiled his annual roundup of Sacramento-area real estate projects to watch in the new year. This year's edition of Projects to Watch focuses on big-ticket projects that have come far enough to suggest their momentum is likely to continue in 2025. Read more

Grocery Outlet looks to fill two former Rite Aid spaces

Emeryville-based Grocery Outlet has filed plans indicating it intends to fill two former Rite Aid spaces in the Sacramento area.

The discount grocer is seeking approvals for sites at 1309 Fulton Ave. in Arden-Arcade and 5409 Sunrise Blvd. in Citrus Heights. Both spaces were previously occupied by drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp., which closed the locations as part of a restructuring plan after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023. Read more

Thanks for reading our Weekly Edition, which was compiled by Managing Editor Sonya Sorich. Send feedback and news tips to ssorich@bizjournals.com.