English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Victorville, CA

Many Chick-fil-A loyalists went into panic-mode after the company’s Victorville store, the only location in the High Desert, remained closed this week.

“I know Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays, but why are they closed during the week?” a concerned Kaila Renfro asked the Daily Press. “I need my Chick-fil-A Deluxe and Waffle Fries.”

Chick-fil-A employees took to social media to assure customers that the store on Mariposa Road will reopen when restaurant's remodeling project is completed sometime in April.

For now, foodies wanting their Chick-fil-A fix will have to travel to the nearest restaurant in San Bernardino, Rialto or Rancho Cucamonga.

The restaurant closed just as the company rolled out new these limited time menu items:

‘Totally bummed’

Apple Valley resident and Chick-fil-A fan Joe Hall said he was “totally bummed” when he found out the restaurant closed on Wednesday.

Hall said he makes two monthly 25-mile round-trips to the Victorville Chick-fil-A to pick up food for his wife and himself.

“We always order three original chicken sandwiches and two waffle fries for an early dinner,” Hall said. “We also get two orders of chicken nuggets to warm up later.”

Chick-fil-A’s nearly 100-seat dining room store, with a drive-thru and indoor kids play area, has been busy since the 5,000-square-foot chicken restaurant first opened in July 2021.

The local restaurant's hours are from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Like all Chick-fil-A locations, Victorville's is closed on Sundays.

Chick-fil-A is located at 12180 Mariposa Road, just north of Bear Valley Road and near Interstate 15 in Victorville.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

Bill Walker knows good music.

Founder of East Side Story Label and Thump Records, Walker, 71, has devoted his professional life to scouting and signing the best West Side rappers, Chicano bands, soul musicians and other artists who replicate the heart of East Los Angeles in their music.

Specializing in "music from the street" and inspired particularly by lowrider culture, Thump Records has big-name artists Malo, Nate Dogg, "Together" band Tierra, Rocky Paddila, Thee Midniters, El Chicano and "La Raza" singer Kid Frost representing their marque.

The Brea record label materialized out of necessity.

"You just couldn't hear this kind of music on the radio back in the day, it was too underground," Walker's business partner Nikko Jocson said. "If you're in your 40s or 50s, then you've grown up with this music and the experience of scavenger hunt finding it on cassette tapes at swap meets."

Thump's extensive old school and low rider compilation series established them as the go-to label for East Los Angeles sounds from 1990 onward. Distribution by Universal Music Group helped seal their legitimacy and leveraged the label to license songs for major motion pictures and this year's Super Bowl.

The low rider community is celebrating the 36th anniversary of Thump Records this year with the release of the "Thump Records Presents" music festival series, the first of which, dubbed "Mojave Music Festival," will debut May 1 through May 3 at Mojave Narrows Regional Park.

'Chicano Coachella' comes to Victorville

Oldies are like an heirloom; passed between generations from Victrola to Spotify playlist.

"The younger kids are keeping the genre alive," Jocson said, who is responsible for scouting Victorville as the first festival location.

He says the demographic of the High Desert fits the bill for East Side Story music. Multiples of his friends moved up the hill at the turn of the century to start families in an affordable corner of Southern California. He says he's seen the East Los Angeles influence that his friends and many other migrants brought with them when relocating to Victor Valley.

"We want this festival to be the Chicano Coachella," Jocson laughed. More than 20 Chicano, hip-hop, and oldies artists will take the Mojave Narrows stage for the festival.

Presale tickets start at $40 per day and can be purchased at www.fleetlinemedia.com/thump-records-presents. Camping is also available at the Mojave Narrows for the festival, with three-day passes starting at $200 for non-hookups and $400 for hookups. Camping fees include two three-day festival passes.

Mojave Music Festival lineup fitted with the greats

Headliners on Friday, May 1, set the mood for the rest of the weekend.

Latin Legends Live is one of the biggest names at the festival. The 1997 live album features an ongoing concert series with Latin rock bands Tierra, El Chicano and Malo. Event goers can expect the same hits from this tour, including Malo's "Cafe" and doo-op saxophone favorite, Tierra's "Zoot Suit Boogie."

1960s Latino rock band Thee Midniters is another highly anticipated night one act. Known for their slow and steamy ballads and horn section, Thee Midniters' "Chicano Power" is a movement classic.

Saturday, May 2, is the day to attend for those who like to dance. Things get funky with a mashup of electronic classics like "Jam on It" band Newcleus, rap sensations Suga Free and 2 Live Crew, and funky little beats from 1980s freestyle singer Connie.

Besides Latin rapper Kid Frost on Sunday, May 3, most of the day-three acts are more homegrown. Event coordinators are also looking for local talent to perform on the last day, ones who can "make the girls dance."

East Side Story's 'stain power'

Walker's business blossomed from bootlegging tapes to pass out at swap meets in his early teenage years. His counterfeit networking worked, and East Side Story ran the game in the 1990s.

In the early 2000s, however, the record business "crashed." Walker remembers it well. The rise of digital music media was new; it was a trending technological advancement that mobilized personal music for the first time since the Walkman.

Forget Death Row or Warner Records, the iPod was the new enemy, especially for an analog-reliant label like East Side Story.

From 2009 to 2013, Walker secured a partnership with 2,900 7-Eleven locations across the U.S. to sell old school and low rider compilation series box sets. Soon, however, corporate management no longer saw value in a physical product and pulled the box sets and the concurrent print magazine "Low Rider Magazine" from stores.

Today's executives at Thump Records regret that the younger generation is deprived of the titillation of thumbing through vinyl at the record store; of skimming through used albums to find some pre-loved gold.

Walker says he's glad that there has been an uptick in vinyl sales "very recently" from the TikTok generation who never got that experience of listening to a scratchy record.

There's "stain power" in records, Thump Records Event Coordinator Brando Padilla says, meaning that they stand the test of time.

The music he represents mirrors the nostalgia of music media. The suave '70s love songs under the East Side and Thump labels almost sound better with a cackle and occasional pop. Walter and his executives know this. The artists they sign, the events they produce replicate that same homey feeling of swapping tapes back when things seemed easier.

McKenna is a reporter for the Daily Press. She can be reached at mmobley@usatodayco.com.

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (VVNG.com) — NewMark Merrill Companies, Inc., in partnership with World Premier Investments and R.Y. Properties, Inc., has received entitlements to develop Desert Sky Plaza II, a 30-acre, 297,363-square-foot shopping center at the southeast corner of Roy Rogers Drive and Amargosa Road in Victorville.

The Calabasas-based retail shopping center owner and development company is scheduled to break ground in the second quarter of 2026, with an anticipated opening in fall 2027.

The second phase of the existing Home Depot-anchored Desert Sky Plaza will be anchored by Target and Burlington, along with several other soft goods retailers. The project is projected by Placer.ai to generate more than 6.5 million annual visits once open.

Desert Sky Plaza II is currently approximately 70% pre-committed, with space still available for junior anchor, drive-thru, carwash, pad and retail shop tenants ranging from 1,500 square feet to 25,000 square feet. Greg Giacopuzzi and Darren Bovard of NewMark Merrill are overseeing leasing efforts.

Designed by Architects Orange and Kimley Horn, the center will be part of the larger, approximately 100-acre commercial development known as The Desert Plazas. The broader project currently features WinCo and Home Depot and is expected to include more than 800,000 square feet of retail space upon full buildout.

According to the company, the area sees more than 31,000 average daily trips along Roy Rogers Drive and over 90,000 trips near the Interstate 15 corridor. The project’s digital reader board at the I-15 freeway offramp generates more than 32 million annual impressions.

The trade area is expected to include more than 130,928 potential shoppers and is located within a growth market where more than 22,500 new homes have been approved or are under development.

“Desert Sky Plaza II is the culmination of our partnership with the City of Victorville and our commitment to the High Desert region,” said Sandy Sigal, chairman and chief executive officer of NewMark Merrill. “We are extremely excited to bring much needed retail, restaurants, and services to this region as it continues to grow. NewMark Merrill will continue to look for opportunities to bring our expertise to Victorville and surrounding cities through development, investment, and property management.”

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