According to Fremont landlord Mike Peck, his office receives no more calls to rent space in the spring than the rest of the year.
"There is a big demand for retail," Mike said of recent requests, but throughout the year, interest "cycles up and down."
To me, each spring, it feels like new businesses have sprung up in my community like dandelions sprinkled across my lawn. It might be perception rather than fact, based on my face-down/dash-quickly style of winter walking compared to leisurely spring strolls that provide better opportunity to encounter new neighbors.
Making the move
DesteeNation Shirt Co. has opened a retail shop at 3412 Evanston Ave. N. as an expansion of its Green Lake facilities (as profiled in the Herald-Outlook in the Feb. 15 issue), with its windows filled with familiar logos on a rainbow of T-shirts.
The Asteroid Café, a Wallingford fixture for eight years and five months, according to owner Marlin Hathaway, will have its second location open here by May 1, hopefully.
The Italian bistro will seat more diners at its new space in Fremont Square, 3601 Fremont Ave. N,, in the wine-bar part of the dearly departed Fremont Red Apple Market. (Rumor suggests the rest of the large space will be broken into smaller pieces to accommodate a variety of shops and offices.)
Another Wallingford business, Salon Zaffa, will relocate to 3422 Stone Way N., and owner Michelle Pleasant hopes to have it operational by the first week of May.
By the beginning of June, Horseshoe, a new boutique at 720 North 35th St., plans to open its doors. Owner Jill Anderson, creator of the Jill Renae line of jewelry, wants to carry clothes and items that "reflect my personal style" in this, her first business.
Welcome, Google
Google, a California-based corporation, recently leased office space here at 501 N. 34th St. Eddie Devine works across the street at the Red Door, where he hears everything. He heard from the former tenants that Google will locate around 100 employees here, but he waited discreetly for Google to confirm the information.
Google still doesn't want to, but Eddie - and most people I've met - wants them to know they are among friends. "I welcome them," Eddie admits from his place at the Red Door. "It's good for us. How can it be bad? Unless they bring in their own chefs."
He misses the employees from Capital Stream, the former tenant, as good customers - 30 to 60 people from there filled his tables every day and as good sports who ran on Eddie's team in the Fremont Briefcase Relay Race, an annual fund-raiser for the Fremont Public Association.
Already outgrown
Sound Speed Scooters opened here last September, and Karen Barrier admits, "We're already outgrowing the space."
From their building at 3623 Fremont Avenue North, her husband, Joe Flynn, does restoration, high-performance tuning and service work on new and vintage scooters, nearly any make or model.
Karen operates the business from the storefront, where they sell all the accessories, parts and lifestyle clothing that scooter enthusiasts (called Scooterists) need.
"We might get into selling scooters," Karen muses, which would necessitate a larger space.
They chose their location in a neighborhood with a lot of Scooter-ists, as well as foot traffic. They needed a location accessible by scooter, which meant arterials, not freeways, and a free-standing building.
A service shop can't share space with many types of businesses, so what they found here works very well, so far.
Located north of Fremont Square, Karen and Joe have stretched the borders of our retail area. Foot traffic hasn't been ideal, Karen allows, but "we have a niche anyway."
A strong attachment
Chris Marx also stretched our boundaries when she opened her shop in a converted apartment in West Fremont. "I'm surprised by the reality," Chris said. "People aren't flowing in the door."
Chris opened The Refeathered Nest at 309 N. 36th St., on Oct. 13, 2005, and while "it's been very hard - I started on a shoe string," she has heard so many positive things from customers who find her shop that it keeps her going.
Artists and craftspeople express enthusiasm for the treasures she sells - jewelry, vintage clothing, linens, fabric, collectibles and "reclaimed elements" of home décor - and she's seen "a lot of people who share my appreciation for cool, old stuff."
"I knew the store would be a hit," she says about her first business venture after years of working for the Fremont Public Association. Her roots in our neighborhood stretch back, having lived here in the early 1970s.
She feels a strong attachment: "I've always loved the neighborhood, and I'm proud to be a part of it."
Renewed enthusiasm
With spring in the air and so many new faces to swap smiles with, it's no wonder I feel a renewed enthusiasm as I walk our sidewalks.
As I spoke to this wide spectrum of entrepreneurs who operate an incredible diversity of businesses, I heard an identical excitement from each one.
I hope everyone gets to join me in wishing each of them the very best of luck - in person whenever possible!
Kirby Lindsay once opened a bookstore in Fremont, which she operated for eight years, in the spring (May 1992). She invites your comments at fremont@ oz.net.
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