New Business

Elks Tower penthouse to open

2011-07-02T01:14:18Z

The Rail Bridge Cellars Penthouse Lounge at the Elks Tower will offer a wine-tasting room with a skyline view after opening in two weeks.

The owners of urban winery Rail Bridge Cellars, Michael Gelber and his wife, Katharine (Ayers) Gelber, want to breathe new life into a room that once held Top of the Town, a restaurant and bar popular in the 1950s and 1960s. They hope to officially open the spot July 11 as an off-site wine-tasting room in the heart of downtown, he said.

The opening is tied to the winery's growth after seven new wines were recently introduced to the market. Previously, Rail Bridge had only offered two wines: a sauvignon blanc and a 2004 proprietary red blend called Lattice that had cabernet sauvignon as its primary component.

The winery bottled 1,400 cases in April. The wines include a 2006 Lattice cab blend, a 2007 Lattice Reserve cab blend, a 2007 blend of merlot and cab franc called Right Bank, a 2007 Merlot, a 2009 zinfandel, and port, said sommelier Michael Chandler, who handles brand development for the winery.

A new 2009 chardonnay is named for their daughter, Sienna, who was born in February. The Right Bank wine got its name because Sacramento sits on the right bank of the Sacramento River.

The 14th-floor, 1,000-square-foot penthouse can be rented for private events such as birthday parties and meetings. Future plans call for turning the space into a private hangout spot where members have around-the-clock access for themselves and friends.

Large, 14-foot windows on three sides offer views of the Capitol, City Hall, the railyards and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

"We call it the Penthouse Lounge – the view with the room," Michael Gelber said.

The Gelbers have decorated the space in the tower, 921 11th St., with a wine-barrel bar, couches and other seating, a long table topped by a grand chandelier, curtains, ornate rugs and other furnishings totalling $10,000 to $12,000.

The furnishings include a sink, dishwasher and flat screen that can be used for meeting presentations.

The couple is also partnering with Katharine Gelber’s father, Elks Tower owner Steve Ayers, on a first-floor renovation that will one day hold a cafe, bar and chocolatier on the first floor. Rail Bridge Wine and Spirit s is expected to open next year, Gelber said.

The penthouse lounge – as well as the first-floor cafe/bar – will feature wines from Rail Bridge, which sits in North Sacramento at 400 N. 16th St.

Rail Bridge will host wine tastings at the penthouse. The winery was named for the historic I Street Bridge crossing the river. The space also can be rented for private wine tastings, parties and meetings for $750 a day, Gelber said

Gelber said they want to use the penthouse the way it was when Sacramentans dined and celebrated at Top of the Town, which was open to the public. At that time, the Elks Tow er was the tallest building in Sacramento.

Reporters, legislators, lobbyists, politicians and business people all gathered there when downtown Sacramento was rocking in the 1950s and 1960s, recalled former KCRA anchor Stan Atkinson. He patronized the place with fellow journalists Stu Nahan and Fred Wade, who became chairman of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

“It was going full-bore when I came to town in ’57,” said Atkinson, who’s been called “Mr. Sacramento” and “The Man Who Owns Sacramento.” “It was the biggest thing in town. People said, ‘I’ll see you at the Top.’ ”

Tower Records founder Russ Solomon reportedly had his bar mitzvah there, and freeform rock station KZAP broadcast from the 13th and 14th floors after going on the air in November, 1968.

"The goal for the room is really to bring it back to the old time when it used to be the Top of the Town," Gelber said.

The Gelbers are taking reservations for the space. A 50th birthday party has already been booked for a wine lover who used to swim in the building's pool when he was a kid.

Maloof Sports and Entertainment has already used the room a couple of times to work on Kings' promotions and ticket sales. Drexel University in Sacramento has also rented it for a retirement party for dean and Chief Executive Officer Tobey Oxholm, Gelber said.

Down the road, Gelber said they plan to create a private club system that would give members access to the penthouse 24/7. Members who pay an annual fee would have keys and sign in using a credit card and an iPad mounted in the room.

The room could still be rented for other private gatherings. The penthouse would be staffed if that was arranged previously.

Wine and possibly snacks and other beverages would be available. Using an honor system and credit cards, members would check out and pay for what was consumed before leaving.

The room's ambiance has been left a bit rough, with the original 1926 concrete floor and unfinished walls with exposed brick around the windows. But if the space is successful, the room would be renovated and a bar would be opened there.

"There won't be anything like it, I can guarantee you," Gelber said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Elks Tower cafe, bar and chocolates with a view

2011-06-15T02:20:15Z

A dusty corner of the historic Elks Tower containing a pool hidden for decades will soon get a second life when a Euro-style cafe, bar and chocolatier open next year.

The Ayers family has begun renovating a bi-level corner of the 1926 building designed by architect Leonard J. Starks to incorporate a pool where club members swam for 50 years. The pool hasn't been used since about the early 1980s.

Building owner Steve Ayers, his daughter Katharine (Ayers) Gelber and her husband, Michael Gelber, are partnering to open Rail Bridge Wine and Spirits in the front corner of the building at 921 11th St. The other corner is anchored by McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant.

The bar, small cafe and chocolatier will share a ground-floor, L-shaped space that overlooks the empty basement pool after walls blocking the view were removed in mid-2010, Michael Gelber said.

"When it opened, this building and The Citizen Hotel were considered the jewels on J Street," he said, referring to the Cal Western Life building that also opened in 1926. "You won't find anything (else) like this."

The space will hold a chocolatier called Hanzel & Pretzel and a small, attached kitchen serving desserts, small plates, specialty coffees and hot chocolate. Fed Ex operated an office there until December 2009.

Most of the chocolates will be imported from Switzerland, France and other countries. Chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolates, desserts and other fare will be made on-site. The family is searching for a chef and a chocolatier for its new Hanzel & Pretzel concept. The menu has not been planned, but may include stuffed potatoes.

The anchor business will be a full bar featuring wines from Sacramento's first urban winery – Rail Bridge Cellars at 400 N. 16th St., which the Gelbers own under Alexis Ventures. The company also owns Strings Express, at 431 I St., where Gelber is the managing partner.

The bar will also carry spirits and wines from other wineries.

A custom-made rack with port wines from around the world will hold a prominent spot tying the chocolatier and bar together.

"You've got to make money on the bar," he said. "You're not going to make it on the chocolate."

But the visual focus will be the cavernous basement pool room, with its pale blue walls and vaulted ceiling at least 32 feet high. A row of tables and couches will overlook the pool behind a glass partition. Silent films reminiscent of the building’s era may play on the back wall behind the pool.

The renovation will leave most of the historic building's character intact. Exposed brick walls, the original concrete floor and peeling paint will be left to express the building's venerable history, Gelber said.

The renovation is expected to cost about $200,000. The family is also opening the Elks Tower Penthouse Lounge on the 14th floor, which can be rented for wine tastings, private parties and meetings, in two weeks. Windows on three sides offer views of the Capitol, City Hall, the railyards and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

That 1,000-square-foot space was recently outfitted with $10,000 in new furnishings such as couches, a long table and a big-screen TV. The penthouse will also serve as an off-site tasting room for Rail Bridge Cellars, Gelber said.

Plans will be submitted to the Sacramento Community Development Department’s Planning Division in one to two weeks, he said.

Michael Chandler, who handles brand development for the winery, is expected to oversee retail sales. Gelber will oversee daily operations.

The business is being built in phases because of the economy. If the concept proves successful, the family expects to open a full restaurant and second bar in the basement. Customers would sit at tables on Plexiglas over the pool, possibly in three years.

"This would have to go really well – the economy would have to turn for that to happen," he said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Microbrewery on track for Curtis Park

2011-06-11T01:07:17Z

A Curtis Park microbrewery that plays up Sacramento's railroad history is one step closer to opening after winning approval from the city Planning Commission.

Two craft beer fans expect to open Track 7 Brewing Company, a microbrewery and tasting room, in mid-September if other necessary permits and licensing are granted.

Southern California transit analyst Ryan Graham and Sacramento mortgage underwriter Geoff Scott said they hope to start working on an adaptive reuse of a ~~380-square-foot space~~ 2,100-square-foot space inside a warehouse at 3747 W. Pacific Ave., near Sutterville Road and 24th Street, within a month.

The Sacramento Planning Commission voted 8-1 Thursday night to grant a special permit for alcohol sales in the tap room and a special permit to waive a parking space.

After the vote, Graham, Scott and Scott's wife, Water Education Foundation Events/Tour Director Rebecca Scott, headed over to the warehouse and celebrated the victory with their home-brewed Big Four Strong Ale. The beer is named for the four railroad barons who built the Central Pacific Railroad.

"We're both home brewers, but we decided to take our passion and our hobby to a different scale," said Graham, who lives in the Southern California town of Beaumont.

Graham, 32, has been brewing beer at home for eight years. He's also volunteered at Inland Empire Brewing Company in nearby Riverside. For six or seven years, Scott has been making small batches of beer to share with family and friends.

They plan to feature “artisanal” beers made in the "firmly hopped" tradition of the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast. The hops impart more aroma and bitterness. Other parts of the country are now following the West Coast style by expanding hop usage in beer, said Scott, a 33-year-old Curtis Park resident.

The beers will be inspired by American, Belgian, English and German brewers. Scott and Ryan will combine influences and recipes for beers such as porters, stouts, strong ales and IPAs.

His family has lived in Sacramento since the early 1920s. Scott's great-grandfather was a farmer who used trains and the rail lines to transport produce to other parts of California.

He and Graham became friends while attending the University of California, Davis. Graham now works on railroad projects, which is partly why they chose Track 7's name and the location in a warehouse near old Western Pacific railroad tracks.

"We wanted to tie in Sacramento's history with the railroad," Scott said.

The Sacramento Planning Commission's support was needed to get a small beer manufacturer's license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. That support also allows the microbrewery's owners to apply for city building and engineering permits.

The area is zoned as heavy commercial, but there are residences nearby. One resident, Dee Schaffer, wrote to the city to oppose the microbrewery. Schaffer, who lives across the alley, said she's concerned because there were problems with noise, crime, traffic and other nuisances when a punk rock bar called Club Minimal operated there in 1983 and 1984.

"I most adamantly protest this place going in," she wrote in an email included in a city staff report to the planning commission.

Three other residents, a neighborhood association and a business owner sent emails to the city in support of Track 7.

“This appears to be a good example of light industrial mixed use. It would appear to be
a potentially energizing community asset. Kindly accept this note as one of support," wrote Don Lockhart of the College Green Neighborhood Association

No supporters or opponents spoke at the Planning Commission's public hearing Thursday night, city planner Evan Compton said.

Planning Commissioner William Wong voted against granting the permits. Most of the commissioners' discussion involved the hours of operation.

There was a motion to limit the hours, but the commission granted the owners' request to be able to operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. They will initially be open Thursdays through Sundays, then expand to more weekdays once business builds, Graham said.

The commissioners also decided to allow live music and limited on-site parking requirement to two spaces. The tasting room is small. There are 18 parking spaces on the street in front, and about 15 other parking lot spaces belonging to the building's other tenants would likely be free in the evenings, Compton said.

"I don't really see that (parking is) going to be an issue," he said.

The microbrewery will be located near the future Curtis Park Village development. Brewery equipment is on site but hasn’t been installed. The brewery’s open layout will allow visitors to see the equipment, such as stainless steel tanks, platforms and a control panel.

Graham and Scott plan to serve nuts, chips or other snacks. They also hope to have a food truck serving gourmet fare in the future. But Track 7 won't have a restaurant, Scott said.

"We're just going to focus on beer, because that's what's important to us," he said. "The food is not really important at all."

Editorial Note: A correction has been made to this story after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Yoga Shala opens

2010-07-07T04:06:01Z

Tyler Langdale knew from his first yoga class that he would open his own studio one day.

But it wasn't until he and Sacramento lobbyist Josh Pane, a devoted friend and yoga client, spent a month studying yoga, traditional healing and Buddhism in India and China that he seriously considered it.

The 27-year-old yoga teacher and the former city councilman were walking on a beach in Goa on India's west coast. The Arabian Sea shimmered as the idea crystallized in Pane's mind.

"I turned to Tyler and I said, 'Tyler — you've got to open up a yoga studio,' " Pane said.

Now the two are partnering to open the central city's newest yoga studio, Yoga Shala Sacramento, in the recently renovated YWCA of Contra Costa/Sacramento. They held their grand opening Tuesday evening at the historic building, 1122 17th St. Langdale led about 100 people through a series of yoga poses or asanas intended to stretch, strengthen, relax and rebalance.

The trip last fall was the culmination of two years of private yoga study. Their studio is named after the yoga center in India where they deepened their practices, Mysore Mandala Yogashala.

"Shala means sacred space," Langdale said. "It's a safe space — a sacred space."

Langdale, a former competitive swimmer, said the name was chosen to reflect their aim of creating a safe, accepting space for people on their own paths to personal empowerment and health through yoga.

"The main thing about us is we're going to try to keep it simple. We're not as interested in the clothes you wear — but who you are. Come as you are," Langdale said. "Just come and be. Use your energy to try to get clear on your way of being and the way you want to live in this world."

Pane has studied yoga for seven years and plans to become a yoga instructor as well. They have known each other for four years, first as students at Yoga Loka, run by the man sometimes called the "grandfather" of Sacramento yoga, Bill McCauley.

Langdale had been working as a massage therapist for several years when he committed to a personal practice of daily power vinyasa three years ago. He has taught at Zuda Yoga for about two and half years.

The two looked at about 20 possible spaces before turning to the YWCA, which just underwent a $3 million renovation. Commercial spaces were going for $1.50 to $2.50 per square foot. But none had the same feel as the YWCA.

At a slightly higher cost, Langdale and Pane now have a monthly lease on a 1,000-square-foot room with wood floors, a box-beam ceiling and large windows looking out onto Midtown. Classes on beginning yoga, power vinyasa and ashtanga vinyasa will be held four times a day, seven days a week. This week, classes will be held evenings only and mornings only over the weekend. The regular schedule begins Monday.

The central city now supports at least six yoga studios. But many don't make it. Pane and Langdale hope to make theirs competitive by offering longer classes (90 minutes, rather than 75) and a lower price for drop-in students ($14, rather than $16). They are also offering an introductory $10 for 10 consecutive days and a $10 "power hour" at noon.

They have recruited six other experienced yoga teachers: Robert Hallworth, Rachel Miller, Christine Aspen, Lyle Silverthorn, Nick Montoya and Gina Garcia.

Pane said Langdale's "unconditional love" for people and his dynamic ability to lead a group through what is, essentially, an individual practice make him an exceptional teacher.

"He just demonstrates love — his love for people, his love for life, his love for learning new things," Pane said. "His unconditional love comes out in his teaching."

Photo of Josh Pane and Tyler Langdale in Goa, India, provided by Yoga Shala Sacramento. Other photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.

Depot Bikes takes over 5th and H

2010-06-12T04:52:51Z

Less than seven months after opening, 5th and H Café has closed.

Owners Anthony and Tracy Palombo have been struggling to turn a profit on the bistro, which sat in a back corner of the Railway Express Agency Building next to the downtown train station. The Palombos closed the bistro for Memorial Day and never reopened.

"We tried," Anthony Palombo said. "It was a hard decision, but the opportunity came to sell. It was a good time for me to get out."

Brothers Tim and Mike Fallis are taking over the space for Depot Bikes & Cafe Sacramento. A sign went up on the cafe door Friday to announce the transition.

The pair had been working to open their commuter/touring bike shop and cafe/lounge concept in the space next door. The brothers signed a contract last week with the building's owner, Carson Development, to take over the lease for 5th and H so they could combine the spaces. They also agreed to buy the restaurant's equipment, Tim Fallis said.

They had been planning to operate just a small deli at Depot Bikes and had even approached 5th and H about supplying the food. The Palombos later offered to sell their business instead.

The building has had challenges finding and keeping tenants, and the back corner location is especially tough. (The Sacramento Press offices are located in the building.) Soups in the City and Quiznos Sub Shop also tried to make a go of it in the two spaces. The Fallises will take a three-pronged approach to making their business work — covering overhead costs from a single location with several income streams, live events and strategic marketing.

"We're kind of off in a little corner where we're not highly visible, so we're looking at marketing efforts that will draw people to this corner," Tim Fallis said. "When you're located in an area like this that's just coming up, marketing is critical."

For example, the business will offer bike rentals, which will be marketed at local hotels. Bike shop services will be marketed on commuter trains. The city will be approached about cafe marketing inside the train station.

A gritty urban bike shop theme will be used throughout to unify the two spaces, which will total about 2,200 square feet. An existing wall between the cafe and bike shop will be knocked out. A wrought-iron gate with bike parts or frames welded into it will separate the spaces so they can open independently.

The cafe is expected to undergo minor changes. For-sale commuter bikes and bike art, including sculptures made of bike parts, will go up on walls. Work will continue on the bike shop to take it back to its historic warehouse roots. Brick walls and concrete pillars have been exposed. Flooring will be a combination of concrete, distressed wood and quarry tile.

This bike shop will cater to bike commuters and touring cyclists, a concept popular in other U.S. cities and Europe. The new cafe's menu will include fresh, ready-to-go food for commuters and picnic lunch fare for those renting bikes. They may also keep some of the menu items from 5th and H Café, Tim Fallis said.

He decided to open the speciality bike shop about two years after getting into cycling. Encouraged by his wife, brother and youngest son, Chris — all cyclists — he took up the sport after recovering from leukemia. At 56, the former nurse got into long-distance tandem cycling with his wife.

"Somebody might not be able to run. Somebody might not be able to do some other sport. But by acquiring the right kind of equipment, most people can ride a bike," Tim Fallis said. "There's something out there for just about everybody, and it's something people can do at their own pace."

His son will manage the bike shop. The operation will have a half dozen employees, which may include former 5th and H staff.

The bike shop will be open daily. The cafe will be open Monday through Saturday. Tentative hours for both are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., unless staying open later for special events. Those events will be designed to keep the corner active. Its remote location may then become an advantage because no residents live close enough to be bothered by outdoor music or other noise, he said.

Loyal 5th and H customers are still stopping by to see if that cafe is reopening, so the goal is to get Depot Bikes and Cafe open as soon as possible. Fallis expects that to be in one to two months.

"I don't want them to go away thinking, 'Here's one more time that this corner didn't work,' " he said. "I want them to see that it can."

Grocery Outlet to open 17th & Capital

2010-05-11T01:30:51Z

A mom and pop Grocery Outlet is expected to open in Midtown this summer.

An Orange County family is relocating to Sacramento to open a branch of the chain that calls itself the country's largest "extreme-value" grocery retailer. The store is expected to open July 1 in the former Rick's Uptown Market at 17th Street and Capitol Avenue.

Mindi and Ken Admire want to set their store apart from other Grocery Outlets by operating a family-friendly business and really getting to know their customers. Their children, Kristina and Kenneth, a recent college graduate, will be an integral part of that.

"We hope that we stand out as a different model in that we're going to be completely family-oriented," Mindi Admire said. "We want it to be very intimate. Our entire family is involved in running and operating the store."

The renovation is expected to resume as soon as this week. A little more than a month ago, a construction crew hired by Grocery Outlet removed a five-foot-high section of one of two murals on the building's exterior walls. Admire thought the mural section was removed because it needed repair, but she wasn't sure.

Artists behind the Midtown Murals Project have been working for months to protect the 10-year-old market-scene murals, which were commissioned when Rick's Uptown Market opened.

Grocery Outlet has committed to restore both murals, said the chain's spokeswoman, Melissa Porter, who did not comment further.

The chain has been trying to negotiate a contract with the mural's original artist, Michael Stanford. An agreement has not been reached yet.

"We would really like to keep that mural," Admire said. "We're in conversation with corporate and the city. We're trying our very best to keep that mural."

The exterior may feature outdoor produce bins. The store will be smaller than most Grocery Outlets.

The interior will resemble others in the chain. A tile floor was removed, and the underlying concrete floor will be refinished. A new ceiling and state-of-the-art refrigeration and lighting will be installed.

"It's going to be brand new from floor to ceiling and the smell will be gone," she said.

Ken Admire has worked in the grocery industry for 34 years. He managed a Wild Oats Market in Colorado before Whole Foods acquired the natural, organic grocery store chain. The Midtown store will be the first he or the family have owned, Mindi Admire added. The family chose to move to Northern California partly because his grandparents once owned a walnut ranch in this part of the state.

Like other Grocery Outlets, the store will offer brand name goods at deep discounts. Products will change on a daily basis depending on what's available. But the store is also expected to offer a variety of organic foods, fresh produce, vitamins and other natural products, she said.

"It will feel very similar to any other Grocery Outlet," Admire said. "But the atmosphere there will be very different."

The family members' focus on healthy products and personal relationships with customers makes them stand out, and they've just become a sponsor of Downtown Sacramento Partnership's Friday Night Concerts in the Park, said Lisa Martinez, DSP's marketing director.

"If you see Grocery Outlet commercials ... it doesn't capture the essence of this local Midtown store's brand," she said. "They want something special out of this store."

New electric bike shop in Old Town

2010-03-19T04:57:55Z

Tim Castleman had a big response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

He felt so sad, disappointed and angry that he changed his life.

He started developing a hemp-based biofuel system and fought for legalization of hemp in Arizona to help end U.S. dependence on fossil fuels. He began a national "Drive 55" campaign to lower Americans' gas consumption and reduce carbon emissions — an effort turned into a documentary. And he organized two "Peace Trains" to Washington, D.C., to promote rail travel.

"My interest in biofuels led me to understand the real problem isn't that we need another source of fuel. We need another source of energy," said Castleman, 51. "The real problem is we don't use what we have appropriately. This led to this whole conservation-minded approach to living."

That approach led him to get into bicycles in a really big way. Two years later, he bought a derelict old Worksman trike for $5 from a neighbor. The trike had been through a fire. Two wheels were missing. Castleman saw only a really useful tool that could get him around. Something he could use to bring home groceries, garden supplies and other cargo.

He found Worksman Cycles still in business, ordered a mess of parts and fixed the trike. He painted it black and slapped on a sticker reading, "One less SUV." He was even happier to discover that Worksman has been making bikes and trikes in this country since 1898.

The former HVAC contractor and his 23-year-old son, Cassidy, are now turning a longtime dream into a reality. They're opening a bike shop that's destined to fill a niche by renting and selling Worksman and electric bikes. They'll also offer repair service and retrofitting to make any bike electric.

Tim Castleman wanted to offer bikes for people who can't or simply don't want to pedal all the time. Once he found Irvine-based Pedego electric bikes, the quality and design were the catalyst that pushed him to open the store.

The bruised and bleeding economy allowed them to take over the well-trafficked Old Sacramento storefront vacated by Discover California, a gift shop open for 17 years.

With a little help from his son, Tim Castleman has brought new life to 114 J St., which is close to the bike trail. The 3,400-square-foot space contains exposed brick walls, 9-foot French windows, 14-foot ceilings, back rooms and a basement on the original city level. They cleaned, painted and repaired light fixtures. They prepared wall space for local art that will debut on Second Saturday Art Walks.

He spent more than five days refinishing the showroom's beat-up, old wooden floor measuring about 2,500 square feet.

The tall black, tan and purple front doors are now open, although the targeted opening isn't until April 1. People wandered into the shop Thursday to ask about the Pedego electric bikes. A shipment of 10 bikes painted apricot, maroon or midnight blue had just arrived that day.

Father and son worked together to pull Pedego cruisers out of shipping boxes and stack them out on the floor. They expect 37 Worksman bikes next week.

Cassidy Castleman is a business student at California State University, Sacramento. He also sells solar electricity for a Rocklin company full-time. His dad got him into solar and other environmentally friendly lifestyle habits, including riding bikes.

"I've gotten a lot of grief for wanting to drive a car instead of ride a bike if it was less than 20 miles," Cassidy said. "It's part of who we are as a family."

Tim Castleman likes his old trike so much that he wanted to sell Worksman products. He loves the sturdy, heavy-duty bikes — which are often used for pizza and ice cream deliveries and other business or "industrial" uses — because they're useful, comfortable and strong, and it doesn't take an athlete to ride them. He also likes the price: Base-model cruisers sell for $299.

"For a made-in-the-U.S.A. bike, that's a bargain," he said. "There ain't nothin' out there that can touch that."

Their store will differ from other bike shops in town because their bikes are geared toward regular folks.

"If you go to a traditional bike store, it tends to be geared toward the racers. Most people aren't racers," Cassidy Castleman said, adding many bike stores have cruisers sitting out in front because that's what's selling.

"There's a definite bike culture here in Sacramento," he said. "Most of the people I see riding around have cool old bikes."

Both will staff the shop. Tim Castleman will service bikes and Cassidy will handle marketing, including building a website. The shop will rent and sell Pedego cruisers, heavy-duty Worksman cruisers called Newsboys and Newsgirls, and Worksman side-by-side trikes, both standard and electric. Single-speed cruisers rent for $5 per hour or $28 per day, and Pedegos for $15 per hour or $80 per day.

"People who come down here — they're looking for fun. They're looking for entertainment. And in this economy, people are hurting," Tim Castleman said. "They can rent a bike for an hour or two for five or 10 bucks — that's affordable."

The shop will also sell Pedego's electric folding bikes and from Worksman, sturdy, industrial-grade standard tandems and trikes, recumbants, folding trikes, hand cycles and two-wheel cargo bikes. Dutch-style Worksman Roadsters will sell for $249, and foldable trikes for $429. An electric foldable trike will sell for $969.

Pedego cruisers will start at $1,595, or $1,775 for an upgrade featuring balloon tires. Those bikes have eight-pound lithium ion batteries and 500-watt motors and weigh about 60 pounds. They can be ridden at speeds up to 20 miles per hour and can go for 15 to 30 miles on a single charge. A 16-inch foldable will go for $1,395. The Castlemans plan to hold an event showing people how to use solar power to charge the batteries.

The store even carries one high-wheeler antique replica that will sell for $1,295 because Castleman is also a dealer for Rideable Bicycle Replicas in Alameda.

"This is the original fixie," he said.

Cassidy Castleman happily admits his dad is the driving passion behind the store. The pair has searched for a store location for four years. But Tim Castleman took the leap to open the shop after surviving radiation therapy for prostate cancer in January.

Ironically, it was a bicycle accident that helped make the store possible. A few years ago, he was riding a bicycle downtown on 15th Street when a restaurant valet suddenly opened a car door in front of him. Castleman flew over the bike and suffered a broken arm. He's using money from the settlement to open the bike shop.

The shop may seem like a small thing to some. But the Castlemans think it can really make a difference. Tim Castleman believes Worksman and Pedego's electric bikes can be "game changers."

"I don't own a car anymore," he said.

Practical Cycle will be open seven days per week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with extended hours in the summer. For more information, call 706-0077 or check out PracticalCycle.com.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.

Store to offer books and wine

2010-03-18T05:28:28Z

A new bookstore concept is coming to Midtown.

Entrepreneur Kevin Standfield and a partner are turning a former office space into a used bookstore and wine bar at 1330 21st St. The establishment will also sell cheese, beer, dessert and coffee.

"My two favorite things in the world are to sip port and read a book," Standfield said. "I like the idea of our customers being able to sit down and hang out and read a book."

To come up with a name, Standfield stuck with a theme he likes. He's calling it Book Monkey, like the Yogurt Monkey shop he and a partner opened on Fair Oaks Boulevard.

"I'm in a monkey thing right now. I don't know why," he said.

Boxes of books sat under plastic Wednesday as the store was being painted. A back wall has already been added. Theatrical lights, a large-screen plasma TV and shelves will be installed in time for the store to open by March 25. The wine bar will be built and outdoor seating added in May or June once a license to sell beer and wine is awarded.

The store has already had a soft opening. The boxed books are being sold for $3. After the official opening, books will sell for up to $10.

"We're open-ish while we're under construction," said Tracy Hernandez, the store's sole employee. "It's dusty and chaotic, but we've still got books out here and lots of finds."

Standfield is opening the store as an offshoot of Holt Concannon, his year-old Sacramento company that sells consigned books for individuals and charities, including churches, through Amazon.com. Those books are sold under the online bookseller Book Quest in Sacramento.

Those books sell for $10 to $30. If they don't sell within 90 to 120 days, they will now be moved to the bookstore and offered at reduced rates. Some books may never make it to the online bookstore because they're priced low from the start. Sale prices are kept competitive or low because high-priced books take longer to sell or may never be sold, he added.

Standfield is poised to become 21st Street's patron saint of books after vowing not to discard any unsold books. He'll return the books or donate them to Loaves and Fishes' Mustard Seed School, Sacramento County Jail or another charity first.

"We give them a shot at the big time. Then we try the brick-and-mortar approach. If that doesn't work, they go to donation," he said. "The landfill and recycling is not an option."

Standfield and his partner aren't particular about the subject matter of donated books. They are primarily interested in hardcovers, but paperbacks are accepted, too. They prefer old books to new because old books sell better online. That way, they don't compete with stores or online businesses selling millions of new books, he said.

Under the consignment deal, Book Quest or Book Monkey takes 30 percent of the profit from each book sale, then splits the rest with the consigner. That can turn into substantial cash for individuals with large book collections or charities whose large memberships donate books, Standfield said.

The majority of titles sold at Book Monkey will go for $5 or less. Those books — about 80 percent of the stock — will bring $1 to $1.50 each to consigners. The remaining 20 percent of the stock brings in $5 to $6 per book to consigners.

Standfield is currently searching for the right person to operate and co-own the wine bar. That end of the business pulls in customers but takes a lot of work, he said. He also expects to open a second store, most likely in East Sacramento, before long. If they can sell 50 books a day, he expects to make $250,000 a year from the entire venture. He's selling 20 books a day now, which brings in $120,000.

Book Monkey will be open daily. Hours will initially be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but will be extended to 9 p.m. once the wine bar opens.

The 50-year-old Berkeley grad has worked as a project manager at corporations including IBM and partnered with people to open several businesses, including Sutter Brewing Company in 1993. The microbrewery later changed hands and became Hoppy Brewing Co.

Standfield said he's devoted to books because they're a critical path to learning and study — and they're in danger of disappearing if society as a whole replaces them with online reading via computers and e-books. His love of books has turned into a nostalgic bid to save as many as he can.

"If we had a mission statement, it would be: 'A home for every book,' " he said.

Photos by Jonathan Mendick and Suzanne Hurt.

Editor's Note: The Sacramento Press editorial has changed the text of the story. In paragraph 15 it was stated that Tamara Gordon was a partner with Standfield for Book Monkey. This is not the case. We apologize for the error.

Store sells Hollywood bling

2009-12-25T23:15:31Z

Does your girlfriend drool over Jennifer Lopez' pink diamond engagement ring? Has your mom sighed over Vivien Leigh's emerald earrings from "Gone With the Wind?" Have you secretly wanted to get your hands on Humphrey Bogart's ring from "Casablanca?"

Florida transplants Kevin and Debra Martin recently opened a celebrity-inspired fashion jewelry store called Filthy Rich in Old Sacramento. The store is the first new business to open in Pioneer Square since remodeling finished in June.

The tiny Pioneer Square is a collection of retail spaces surrounding a brick courtyard still set at the city's original level, at the corner of I and 2nd streets. The square contains a fountain and old gas lamps. Signs advertise vacancies at the rest of the spaces.

Sitting behind arched doors, Filthy Rich offers replicas of jewelry worn by Jackie Kennedy and stars from Hollywood's golden era, as well as bling inspired by today's actors and museum collections.

"This is the first Filthy Rich store in California," said Kevin Martin, who plans to take up residence in Old Sacramento with his wife next summer.

A marketing professional, Mike Shurtleff, came up with the idea for the franchise while he was taking the crown jewels on tour in the United States, Martin said.

Shurtleff then recruited jewelry makers to create molds of jewelry worn by Kennedy and classic stars in movies and publicity photos or from their personal collections. Those pieces, which use cubic zirconica and other synthetic stones, are certified as authentic replicas.

The couple ran three of the stores in St. Augustine, Fla., before Debra Martin got a job at the Raley's headquarters in West Sacramento and they relocated to California.

They now own the right to establish Filthy Rich stores in Sacramento, Eldorado and Placer counties.

Proceeds from sales of some of the jewelry go to charities, such as a fund to help older actors who didn't make much money from their movies and organizations that were supported by Jackie Kennedy, Kevin Martin said.

The store also carries items the Martins picked up at a "dirt market" when they lived in China. Silk purses, ornate metal and ceramic teapots and a hand-carved chess set are among the items they brought back from Asia.

The store, at 900 Second St., Suite A, is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

From blog to store: Trailmix.Net all about kids' adventure

2009-12-23T22:29:19Z

Sara and Mike Barlow are one outdoorsy couple. They carved out their own trail to the fledgling store they opened in Old Sacramento, Trailmix.Net.

After falling in love in a small Idaho college town, they honeymooned in a remote cabin reached by water-taxi in Washington's North Cascades National Park.

Both were into hiking and camping in the Pacific Northwest. But they actually had to relocate to San Francisco to get more hardcore.

"It wasn't until we moved to California that we kind of went crazy with it," said Mike Barlow, 37. "We went though this shock of people congestion. So we would escape up into the Sierra. That was how we got our fix."

She took up backpacking with him and they both began rockclimbing. They were so into the outdoors that he started a blog, trailmix.net, to track their trips and collect information for future adventures. He worked as a quality assurance manager with biotech company Genentech. She worked as an accountant.

Then came the kids. Three, to be exact.

"We said, 'We can't exactly take the kids rock climbing,' " Mike Barlow said.

They didn't want to stop enjoying the outdoors. So they came up with adventures they could take with kids, and he began blogging about that. Trailmix.net developed quite a following among other parents. The Barlows slowly began adding kids' outdoor recreation merchandise to the blog.

Their first product: a $12 family scavenger hunt designed for Yosemite National Park. Barlow freely admits the online business didn't make a lot of money. They barely made enough to cover costs for a secure website. However, running the business had become a passion.

Outdoor merchandise for kids and parents began filling their living room, closets and every corner of their house.

"It took only a year before we were bursting at the seams," he said.

So last summer, they opened a store in the Mechanics Exchange, a building they fell in love with across from the California State Railroad Museum. The store, at 116B I St., carries products for adventurous kids and parents and educational toys focused on nature. The space is stocked with things like kids' snowshoes and gaiters, insect catchers and bug bungalows, Audubon field guides and astronomical charts.

"Everything we loved to do before we had kids is now this store," said Sara Barlow, 33. "It's all our activities, just toned down for kids."

Opening the store allowed them to add a greater range of items and to triple the merchandise, which is all in stock.

The couple schedules in-store activities including guest lectures from nature authors, musicians and artists. On Feb. 7, Trailmix.Net will host an event as part of the national Great Backyard Bird Count, which is taken each year. The Sacramento chapter of the National Audubon Society will teach a bird-counting course for kids and then lead people on a short walk to count birds in Old Sacramento.

On other days, children and their parents can sit down in the store's workshop and build bat houses or start a rock collection. That's a favorite space for their own kids: six-year-old Allison, 4-year-old Meghan and Noah, 2. Workshops are especially popular with stay-at-home moms and children's playgroups, Mike Barlow said.

The store also offers prizes to anyone —kids or adults — who completes a free Old Sacramento scavenger hunt. Most prizes are plastic dinosaurs and wooden chips good for a River City Saloon sarsaparilla. But a ski lift ticket to Sugar Bowl is also buried inside the treasure chest with the other prizes.

Now the Barlows put their adventurous spirit into this entrepreneurial endeavor. They haven't found another online business with the same combination: a publishing wing creating their own products, a retail store, an activity center for learning and a website.

Opening the brick-and-mortar store pushed Trailmix.Net to have its best online sales ever on this year's Cyber Monday, just after Thanksgiving, he said.

That never could have happened if Sara Barlow had let her first encounter with a bear scare her out of the mountains. That was on their honeymoon, when they were hiking back from a waterfall.

Mike Barlow remembered with a laugh the way a black bear tailed them down a mountain trail after he'd promised her they wouldn't see any bears the whole trip. The path was so steep that the bear was just about rolling down the mountain. They had to break into a light jog to stay ahead of the animal, he said.

"In her mind, it was like, 'Why is it catching up to us?' " he laughed. "I'm glad it didn't scare her from wanting to continually find new places to explore. The encounter with that bear kind of set the bar for future adventures. Had that not happened, our thirst for adventures wouldn't quite be what it is."

For event calendars or more information about the store, call 498-9090 or 888-95-TRAIL, or go to store.trailmix.net or blog.trailmix.net.

Photo of Allison, Meghan and Noah Barlow provided by their parents, Mike and Sara Barlow. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Fresh from the pizza oven: East Sacramento's One Speed

2009-07-21T02:34:38Z

Rick Mahan was shaping hand-rolled pizza dough for Friday's lunch rush at his newest restaurant, One Speed, when a customer brought in tomatoes fresh from the garden.

The plump red fruit later found its way onto a Caprese salad -- almost as quickly as pizza had made its way into the chef's heart. Mahan said he's been dreaming about creating a pizza place since opening The Waterboy in Midtown nearly 13 years ago.

"I've never gotten over my pizza fascination," said Mahan, one of two pizza cooks cranking out pie after pie. "For me, the most satisfying thing to cook from start to finish is pizza. I've cooked everything over the years and I've loved it. This is proving to be a very satisfying thing."

Although the 48-year-old likes to call the restaurant at 4818 Folsom Blvd. his "little pizza joint," this is no corner pizzeria. The upscale-minimalist East Sacramento space opened in June to serve artisan pizzas, hand-made pastas and other fare using as much locally grown food as possible.

Local and organic is even better, he said. Dressed in shorts, tennis shoes, a baseball cap and black One Speed T-shirt, Mahan blended with the rest of the fast-moving cooks working in the open kitchen behind a 26-foot-long granite counter.

During Friday's lunch, he made pizzas, cut five pounds of pasta for lunch and dinner, helped the pastry assistant make raspberry bread pudding and oversaw everything and everyone in the restaurant, tucked between a hardware store and yoga studio in the space where Cafe Milazzo used to be. Mahan said he's spending most of his time at One Speed.

"It's a big event to get a restaurant opened and running the way I want it," he said.

Just over a week ago, the restaurant's hours expanded to include lunch. One Speed is now open 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m. every day except Monday. Sunday breakfast may be added soon.

And with Mahan bringing his standards to the place, One Speed isn't likely to be East Sacramento's secret for long.

"It's the new hottest restaurant," said Sean Kohmescher, owner of Temple coffee and tea houses. "The foodies all know it's there."

But why the name "One Speed"?

"All the good pizza restaurant names were taken," said Mahan, smiling. Actually, he chose the name partly because he loves bikes with fixed gears. Mahan collects them.

"The name 'One Speed' refers to my affection for Schwinn one-speed bikes," he said. "It's also a token towards the slow-food movement and just enjoying a good meal with family or friends, rather than wolfing food down while sitting in your car."

Pizzas are even delivered using a single-speed, heavy-duty, Dutch delivery bike. The restaurant's bike decor is subtle: metal gears hang from pendulum lights and combine with round mirrors to function as wall art. Later, water-bottle cases will be repurposed into pepper grinder holders and wine bottle displays.

"I wanted a place with a casual vibe, but the food and service is no different than The Waterboy," said Mahan.

Behind the bar, One Speed General Manager Michael Ng peeled and chopped white peaches to make the classic Italian cocktail known as a Bellini.

"We like to do it right, because the peaches literally came off the tree this morning. That's why I was five minutes late. I was picking peaches," Ng said. "That's what Rick's all about, too. It's got to be fresh. It's got to be good."

Mahan has cultivated a following in Sacramento because he creates inventive food using the best ingredients he can find. And because he's always "tweaking" the food, the menu and the service to be better, said Ng.

"He has so much passion for what he does. He never goes stagnant because he's always trying to find a better way to do anything," he said. "I think that's the sign of a great businessman, a great chef, a great person -- you don't settle."

Mahan got started in the restaurant business as a 16-year-old washing dishes. He worked at a little family restaurant in Carmichael, where he grew up. The family passed their love for the restaurant business on to Mahan.

At 19, he left for San Francisco to work as a chef's apprentice at The St. Francis hotel. Three years later, the company wanted to send him to its new hotel in Boston. He returned to Sacramento to kill time while waiting for the hotel to open.

Mahan started working at an inventive little restaurant called Cafe Natoma in Folsom in 1984. The cafe joined other restaurants on the cutting edge of the California Cuisine movement. Mahan quickly cast off the classic French style so dependent on heavy sauces for lighter, fusion fare using fresh ingredients.

A year later, he went to work as the chef at Paragary's Bar and Oven. In 1988, he and a partner took over a struggling Paragary's (now Zinfandel Grille) on Fair Oaks Boulevard. They built another in Folsom in 1991 and opened that with Randy Paragary as a partner.

Mahan later opened Cafe Oaxaca and Cantina on Fair Oaks Boulevard before he created The Waterboy. He wanted to make pizza at The Waterboy, but the kitchen couldn't handle a big pizza oven.

One Speed's pizza starts with four ingredients that are mixed and hand-rolled and then allowed to ferment and develop flavor overnight. To keep the dough consistent, only Mahan and two others are currently allowed to make dough. During Friday's lunch rush, he taught pizza cook Christie Randolph how to shape the dough into a pizza pie.

The pies were laid onto a wooden paddle and placed into a double-stacked Marsal and Sons gas pizza oven from the East Coast. Valentino Fernandez, once a waiter working for Mahan, turned the oven into a centerpiece by hand-tiling it in a yellow mosaic. As beautiful as it is, the oven's not the secret to good pizza, Mahan said.

"I think the most important thing behind a good pizza is the people making it," said Mahan, who's spent two years developing the pizza dough recipe.

True to form, he's still making it better.