February 3, 2005

Men at work

Retail, restaurants, housing all moving into downtown Campbell

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

Downtown Campbell is undergoing a development boom.

The new store, located at 46 E. Campbell Ave., is the first store for the DiGiorgios in northern California. The father and son team own six fireplace stores in southern California.

Until recently, the area was home to a few restaurants and a few retail shops but business was slow. Within the next several months, it will grow exponentially with new retail shops, new restaurants and even some new homes in the downtown area and throughout Campbell.

“It’s a phenomenon. It’s the evolution of Campbell. We have brand new mixed-use developments as well as space specifically designed for retail,” said Francine Principe, the Redevelopment Agency coordinator for the city of Campbell.

But that’s not all, there’s also a new hotel doing strong business and refurbished restaurants opening within the cities boundaries. Sometimes it’s just timing according to Principe. “We haven’t had lots of available space.” And, she adds, there are always changes in retail, “[the Redevelopment Agency] still has lots of work to do.”

Owner Michael DiGiorgio warms his back with a fireplace at Peninsula Fireplace.

The Redevelopment Agency has been working on developing a tenant mix and helping tenants move into downtown Campbell, Principe said. Things kind of slowed down after the dot.com bust, but in the past few months all kinds of things are happening, she said. The number of restaurants also is increasing, and that will be especially good during the 2006 holiday season when the Heritage Theater offers 46 shows from the American
Musical Theater from the end of November through December.

In a recent Campbell Times Street Talk, people on the street in downtown Campbell wanted to see more retail stores and more restaurants.

Among the new restaurants are La Pizzeria, Slice, Ricos and Aqui’s Cal-Mex Grill. New retail shops include Peninsula Fireplace, Mirabella, Metro Pooch, Trailsloggers, Giuliana’s Gourmet Goodies, the Grapevine and Garofalo’s.

A good number of the restaurants and shops are the second or third business under one owner’s umbrella.

However, in most cases, the Campbell stores will be different in some way from the original.

For example, the owners of Willow Glen’s Grapevine are opening up a shop in downtown Campbell called Good Tastes this April. Like the Grapevine, Good Tastes will offer wine and cheese, and “it will be similar to the Grapevine but different,” said Principe.

Also new to Campbell, with an original in Willow Glen—and a second restaurant in Blossom Valley—is Aqui Cal-Mex Grill and Bar. Aqui plans to open late this year in a new building being built across the street from the Sonoma Chicken Coop. Like the Willow Glen restaurant, the Campbell version will be open seven days a week. Unlike Willow Glen, its saddle bar may be a little larger and it may open earlier for brunch on Saturday and Sunday, said owner David O’Mara.

“It also will have a new menu,” he said, “with its own daily specials for the community. I think the community is organic; it’s a cool spot. I like to be involved in neighborhoods rather than malls. Campbell has small neighborhood streets where there is a sense of community. Campbell radiates that kind of community feeling,” O’Mara said.

Peninsula Fireplace is new to northern California. Owner Michael Digiorgio has six stores in Southern California using the name Wilshire Fireplace. The store, which opened last July, features custom fireplaces and accessories, mailboxes, weather vanes and other treats for the home.

Neil Collins, who spent 10 years as a general manager for Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods, opened Trailsloggers Outdoor Gear last November. His outdoor boutique offers outdoor gear including clothing, shoes and outdoor and nature toys for children. Most of the toys offered for kids are similar to those offered at our nation’s national parks, such as plush birds that make bird calls, finger puppets, hand carved pencils, miniature whistles, butterfly nets and nature books. There’s even a play area in the back with a tree house for children while mom and dad shop.

Mirabella is located at 368 E. Campbell Ave. The store offers antique-looking home furnishings and décor that will beautify any home. It is co-owned by Eli Shobeiri and her son Moe Shobeiri. Photos by Carol Rosen

Trailsloggers carries Columbia, North Face, Merrell, Smart Wool and Life is Good clothing brands. It’s open seven days a week—Monday through Wednesday from 10:30 to 6; Thursday, Friday from 10 to 6:30; Saturday 10 to 5 and Sunday 9 to 2.

Collins decided to put his store in downtown Campbell because, “it’s up and coming. There’s lots of new construction and business owners moving in and there are great weekend events. The farmer’s market brings lots of people to Campbell.” Plus there’s parking behind the building and across the street, Collins added.

Other stores that opened this fall are Mirabella, which offers elegant home décor, furnishings and home accessories; Metro Pooch, a pet boutique with clothing, bedding, personalized items and accessories for “the well dressed pooch with discriminating taste and also a selection of cat novelties and treats.

Giuliana’s Gourmet Goodies, plans a Feb. 9-10 opening. The small chocolate shop features gourmet chocolates and other sweets.. Garofalo’s, which had been housed in the former Silver Buckle space, has moved and will reopen two doors down in March, said Principe. The old location was too big for the antique and home accessory and décor store.

Neil Collins (below) opened Trailsloggers back in November. The store, at 220 E. Campbell Ave., has been described as REI meets Mel Cottons. It offers outdoor apparel and shoes as well as nature gifts for the entire family. Collins even set aside a section of the store as a play area for children while their parents shop.

The Marriot Hotel chain recently opened the Marriot TownePlace Suites in the same location that used to be Andy’s BBQ. The new four-story, 95 room hotel is designed for extended stay business travelers. But it is already earning buzz as a great place to house holiday guests; the hotel is next to the Los Gatos Creek Trail at Highway 17.

Campbell Avenue LLC, a Palo Alto developer, is building a three story mixed use residential/retail building at 201 East Campbell Ave. The 53,400 square foot building features 22 luxury apartments over slightly more than 11,000 square feet of retail space. Developers broke ground last September, and they plan to fill the retail space with restaurants and shops by the end of this year.

Two other units are underway. Pinn Bros. Fine Homes of San Jose is building a four-story condominium complex on Bascom Ave. near the PruneYard in the space formerly housing Fung Lum Restaurant. The 45-unit complex will be called Onyx. It will feature two and three bedroom floor plans as large as 2,000 square feet, some with a den or loft. The building will have below-ground parking as well as nearly 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. It should be complete in the fall.

A 24-unit town home project is being built adjacent to the Water Tower office complex and the new downtown Campbell Light Rail station. The homes will offer one, two and three bedroom floor plans, with all but four units sold at market rate. Marketing began last month.

Two new stores plan to open this spring on the former Breuner’s Furniture store site on Hamilton Avenue at Highway 17. Besides the huge buildings which will house Kohls and Bed, Bath and Beyond, there will be 10,728 square feet of retail space for shops.

To contact the new stores: Good Tastes will be located at 379 E. Campbell Ave. Aqui will be located at 201 E. Campbell Ave. Peninsula Fireplace is now open at 46 E. Campbell Ave., you can reach it by phone at (408) 866-9200 or visit its Web site at www.peninsulafireplace.com.

Trailsloggers Outdoor Gear can be found at 220 E Campbell Ave.. For more information, call (408) 866-5888. Mirabella, owned by Eli and Moe Sabeiri, is located at 368 E. Campbell Ave., phone (408) 866-6300 or go to the Internet at www.mirabellahomedécor.com. Metro Pooch opened in September by Rosa Alejo, is at 241b Campbell Ave., phone (408) 379 BARK or visit the Web at www.metro pooch.com.

Giuliana’s Gourmet Goodies can be found at 295 E. Campbell, its phone (408) 871-8202 starts working Feb. 9, but you can also call 1-800-903-6040 or try the Web site at www.giuliansgourmetgoodies.com. Garofalo’s is located at 234 East Campbell Ave., call (408) 370-6608. Three restaurants will be opening soon, La Pizzaria at 373 E. Campbell Ave., phone (408) 370-5739, Rico’s at 360 East Campbell Ave.at the end of this month and Slice at 266b East Campbell Ave.