Category archive

business - page 14

Ace Hardware coming to vacant storefront in Livermore

in business

Livermore will again have a midsize hardware store in town as a new Ace Hardware location is set to open this spring, replacing the Orchard Supply that closed in 2018 and has remained empty until now.

Renovation of the building located at 1450 First St. is currently underway with a soft-opening set for April 16, according to the store's general manager Eric Evensen, who also managed the store when it was Orchard Supply.

Kansas-based company Westlake Ace Hardware has been expanding throughout California since 2019, opening 12 stores in the state formerly occupied by Orchard Supply in Chico, Fresno, La Crescenta, Mountain View, Pinole, South Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Turlock, Van Nuys, West Los Angeles, Woodland and now Livermore.

Evensen, who has been running the Pinole Ace location since Orchard Supply closed, said that returning to Livermore feels like a full circle moment.

"When I closed this building down, I knew there were some things going on behind the scenes -- some spinoff companies and so on -- and I was kind of like General (Douglas) MacArthur saying, 'I shall return!' But it was tough closing this building down with a great crew, great community, great town, very well received, very well liked by the town, so it hurt -- especially after 32 years with the company -- but it hurt this being my last store," he said.

Continue Reading on Pleasanton Weekly

Ranch of Horror sends in the clowns for a twist on Valentine’s Day grams

in business

TURLOCK, Calif. — Chocolate, hearts, flowers — some things are synonymous with Valentine's Day. 

Scary clowns are not one of those things. 

Nevertheless, Turlock-based Ranch of Horror is taking the holiday of hearts in another direction by offering Valentine's Day grams delivered by a creepy clown.

"We started doing Valentine grams last year...we kind of started it as a joke," Heather May, coordinator with Ranch of Horror, said.

The Central Valley haunted attraction wanted to provide an opportunity for their cast members to work during its off season, and figured that something fun and off-beat like the Valentine's grams would be a good jumping off point. 

"We were just like, 'let's see how many people we can' get thinking it would be just a little extra something for the characters, and it just exploded and took off," May said.

Continue Reading on ABC 10

Popeyes opens to hungry customers, long lines

in business

Several years after the restaurant was first rumored to be headed to Turlock, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen opened its doors in the Turlock Town Center this month. 

Popeyes was originally slated to build a drive-thru location on the corner of Countryside Drive and Tuolumne Road in 2018 next to Farmer Boys, but backed out of those plans and instead settled for a location across town. Located in the Turlock Town Center near Jura’s Pizza Parlor, Popeyes began interior improvements to its current building in the spring of 2020 and opened last weekend to a frenzy of excited customers.

Through various social media posts, Popeyes customers have shared on pages like Turlock To Go on Facebook a wait time of over an hour on some days, with the drive-thru line snaking out of the center, onto Canal Drive and over the train tracks. The wait all depends on what time of day you hop in line and how many others had the same idea as you, of course, but General Manager Vanessa Balero said the newly-assembled Popeyes team is doing all they can to keep up with demand.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

You might be interested in

Downtown Riverbank Coffee Shop Shows Progress

in business

What does one do when COVID restrictions have your primary interest virtually locked down? Well, if you’re Riverbank High School head varsity football coach, you can open a coffee shop in downtown Riverbank.

That’s just what Coach Anthony Buich is working on, a shop called Coffee Bruin, to be opened on Santa Fe Street, between Third and Fourth streets. It’ll be at 3310 Santa Fe, right next to Get Toasted, and across the street from Pizza Plus.

Buich said he’s hoping to finish up, get inspections passed, and open by the end of February.

In the meantime, he’s been working at the shop, where the new coffee bar is beginning to take shape. This past week, he was working on stripping down the concrete floor, getting it ready to refinish.

There’ll be several stations at the bar, featuring coffee brewing styles like latte, cappuccino and espresso.

Since last May, Buich and his wife Tayler have been filling orders for coffee, taken via their Facebook page, for raw coffee beans, either plain or ground before delivery. And they’ve been able to serve an area from Turlock to Oakdale, delivering the orders themselves.

Continue Reading on Riverbank News

You might be interested in

Turlock mom turns bread baking into business

in business

Nearly two years ago, Turlock resident and stay-at-home mom Megan Olson decided she wanted to try baking a loaf of bread to go with dinner. Little did she know, that one loaf would lead to her own business run from the comfort of her kitchen. 

Kneady Wife Bread Co. was formed shortly after, when Olson’s friends and family tried the bread she had baked and decided they wanted more for themselves. Soon, word began to spread quicker than butter on a hot slice of sourdough. Olson now makes up to 150 loaves per week and has customers throughout the 209 area code, providing fresh-baked goods to not only Turlock but communities like Hilmar, Hughson and Oakdale as well.

Olson takes bread orders on Facebook and Instagram, where she posts menu information and details about upcoming pop-up shops she plans on attending. Online orders are typically picked up by customers from Olson’s Turlock home, and those who purchase from her in person at vendor fairs have to get there early since she usually sells out in under two hours.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

You might be interested in

Denair resident creates scrunchie success one stitch at a time

in business

Style fads come and go, but Denair resident Courtney Van Fleet is turning her creativity into profit through one timeless accessory. 

The 25-year-old entrepreneur and Denair High School graduate first learned to sew in 2017 after her grandmother encouraged her to take a class, she said. Since then, her sewing skills have grown from hand stitching drawstring bags to now producing anywhere from 300 to 400 scrunchies per month through her business, Sew Stitch’n Cute.

Van Fleet’s customer base started out small, but when a friend posted a photo of a Sew Stitch’n Cute scrunchie in 2019, she gained hundreds of new followers on her Instagram page and was flooded with requests for the stretchy, fluffy hair accessories. The business today boasts nearly 3,000 followers and Van Fleet has turned her talents into a full-time endeavor, spending four to six hours per day sewing scrunchies, keychains, steering wheel covers and even masks.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

Sale tax revenues have dropped but not like in neighboring cities

in business

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

While the sales tax revenue giants of Stanislaus County – Modesto and Turlock – are expecting significant reductions in sales tax revenue stemming from COVID stay-at-home orders since March 2020, Ceres city officials only expect mild decreases. That’s because Ceres has a smaller reliance on sales to meet budget demands than do the two larger neighbors.

“I’m hoping that it’s a minimal impact,” said Ceres City Manager Tom Westbrook. “When you look at Ceres as a whole, we don’t have a lot of those large sales tax generators, like the city of Modesto has the mall, which was significantly impacted; and the city of Turlock has Monte Vista Crossings. We’re kind of, hey, we’ve got some services, we’ve got some goods, we’re just kind of rolling along and so we didn’t feel the pinch that maybe those larger cities did.”

The city of Ceres showed minimal decreases in sales tax revenue for March, April, May and June of COVID. Westbrook said, in fact, that sales tax and Measure H public safety sales tax revenues came in slightly above what was projected because of the conservative approach.

Continue Reading on Ceres Courier

You might be interested in

USF lunch trucks back in service

in business

The United Samaritans Foundation’s Daily Bread lunch trucks will once again be making their rounds throughout the county, feeding those in need following a 14-day hiatus due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

USF shut down all of its operations — including the nonprofit’s countywide lunch program that feeds approximately 1,700 people daily — on Dec. 21 after one employee tested positive for COVID-19. Consequently, all employees were tested and seven in total were positive for the virus, according to USF Executive Director Linda Murphy-Julien.

USF is now back in action following a 14-day shutdown to stop the spread of the virus between employees and a thorough cleaning of facilities, according to Murphy-Julien.

And, most importantly, according to the executive director, “full recovery is on the horizon for everyone.”

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

You might be interested in

San Francisco business owner blames indefinite stay-at-home order for spike in burglaries

in business

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Many San Francisco business owners are hoping city officials will intervene after an increase of burglaries city-wide are causing small businesses to pay for damages during an already tough time.

A popular set of restaurants on the Embarcadero are facing $10,000 in damages after a recent burglary.

"A whole bunch of outdoor heaters that were attached to umbrellas that were vandalized and some of them stolen. At Epic we actually had a break-in," said Pete Sittnick, Managing Partner of Waterbar and Epic Steak.

Continue Reading on ABC 7 News

Turlock florist ‘poinsettia-grams’ for the elderly sold-out after Kacey Musgraves shares on Instagram

in business

TURLOCK, Calif. (KTXL) — A celebrity shoutout on social media helped shine a light on a Turlock florist and her mission to bring joy to elderly residents in care facilities.

Heidi Cisco is the owner of Heidi Hearts Flowers and she told FOX40 she wanted to do something special for the holidays in 2020, specifically for those who are confined to a room during the pandemic.

“I was just asking myself what are my resources and what am I able to provide? And poinsettias felt like what I was able to do,” Cisco explained.

After country music star Kacey Musgraves shared news of Cisco’s “poinsettia-grams” on Instagram, Cisco said she began getting 10 orders a minute until they sold out.

Continue Reading on Fox 40

1 … 12 13 14 15 16 … 21
Go to Top