You have Starbucks, you have the other big chains...and you have the smaller chains.
Klatch Coffee has locations in San Dimas and Rancho Cucamonga, and now they're getting ready to open a new one. Liset Marquez...um...spills the beans:
The Klatch is now expanding, moving into a former Starbucks location in Ontario...
Specifically, the location in 951 North Haven Avenue.
It turns out that I'm familiar with this location - it's near a Kohl's, and right across the street from Ontario Mills. I've been to this Starbucks before and liked it, but I was unaware that this particular Starbucks had closed.
Klatch Coffee's own page on the new location is here.
And to put a little historical perspective on this, it was about two years ago that Starbucks had its famous store closure to teach its baristas how to make coffee. Klatch Coffee took the attitude "Our people ALREADY know how to make coffee," and took advantage of Starbucks' closure. I wrote about it at the time.
I'm sure the management at Klatch Coffee is really enjoying this.
Some time ago, I discovered that the Robeks smoothie place in Claremont had its own Facebook page, and I went ahead and joined it. Which ended up paying off.
The page itself is private, so I can't really show it to you, but last weekend they announced that they were going to have a "Free Coffee Smoothies" special on Tuesday between 6pm and 7pm. Customers could sample three of their new smoothies - coffee, mocha, and hazelnut - and the first fifteen people who signed up on Facebook would then be eligible to get a free 12 oz coffee smoothie. However, you had to give Robeks the right to make a Facebook/MySpace commercial of your experience.
By the time I saw the announcement, more than 15 people had already signed up, so I knew that I wouldn't get the free smoothie, but I figured that I'd try the samples.
Unfortunately for Robeks, the hour of their special happened to be the exact same hour that a fierce rainstorm was pelting Claremont. Therefore, by the time I arrived at Robeks at around 6:20 pm, there were fewer than 15 people in the store.
Way fewer.
As in, five people - if you count the two employees.
So the best laid plans of mice and smoothie shops are at the mercy of freak Southern California weather.
They did ask my ratings of the three smoothies on a 1-10 scale, and I gave the coffee smoothie a 7.5-8, the hazelnut smoothie a 6 (I'm not a hazelnut fan), and the mocha a 9.
And because of the low crowds, Robeks gave me one of the coupons anyway - which I then proceeded to give to my daughter later in the evening. (She's the one who introduced me to Robeks anyway, so I owed her something.)
Oh, and they didn't feature me in a Facebook or MySpace commercial - but I am admittedly way outside of their target market...
Incidentally, if you're an Inland Empire Facebook user, just search for "Robeks Claremont" and you'll find their page.
I recently wrote about fast food in my business blog, and fast food plays a part in a theory about Wal-Mart.
But first, let's provide an update. And I'll try to keep calm.
The Ontario Mountain Village Association, as part of their repeated and continued attempts to preserve a graffiti-ridden empty lot in northwest Ontario - I guess they want to lower their property values by having decaying vacant space next to their homes - have filed an appeal of the City of Ontario's decision to finally allow the Wal-Mart to be constructed in northwest Ontario.
However, as I write this, the Ontario Mountain Village Association has apparently not discovered the blog post that covers their lawsuit, because of the four comments on the post, exactly zero of them support the OMVA's position. Matt has (so far) written the longest comment, and while he doesn't support the move to keep the Wal-Mart out of Ontario, he's hoping that Wal-Mart will do more than put a big box at Mountain & 5th.
Target sucks and is no better than Walmart. These stores should both stop wasting our open space on these one story box stores with oceans of parking. They should consider a two level approach with a parking structure, leaving room for a plaza, a parkway, and a restaurant.
This would make these shopping centers interesting for pedestrian shoppers instead of dangerous and uninviting. The big box approach to retail will fizzle out and die like a 1960's shopping mall, even in the burbs.
Build a Super Walmart but build it right. Come on Ontario, I know you can force them to design a more urban walmart plaza or court, a Super Walmart that would make the Chaffey brothers proud...LOL.
I've seen the more urban walmarts. They are much better than a crappy old one story Walmart. They don't waste land! (under-utilization).
But then Matt shared a theory which may be of interest.
The Rancho Cucamonga Walmart is no different from many walmarts I've seen except instead of having Mc Donalds fast food in the parking lot there is a Claim Jumper Restaurant. This is a better restaurant choice which draws larger more diverse crowds to the center while also attracting more affluent shoppers.
Rancho Walmart w/ Claim Jumper
More Affluent ($$ / $$$$$)
instead of
Upland Walmart w/ Mc Donalds
Less Affluent ($ / $$$$$).
Personally, I think that Matt is oversimplifying the causes - I think that the problems in the Upland Wal-Mart are due to bad management rather than food choices, and most people don't base their shopping destination choices on the available food. But it is an interesting idea, and if you believe Matt's model, then what will happen to the Ontario Wal-Mart when Cory Briggs' last appeal is denied and a non-union - oh, did I say "non-union"? I'm sure that doesn't enter into Briggs' plans - when Cory Briggs' last appeal is denied and a store replaces the three empty stores on the vacant lot?
On the one hand, you have a Carl's Jr next to the store site. Score one for Matt's Upland model.
On the other hand, you have a Starbucks, a My Delight Cupcakery, a wings place, a sushi grill, and some other non-fast food restaurants just down the street.
We'll follow this continuing saga.
People are really really trying to make Ontario an interconnected transportation hub. On January 6, I wrote about efforts to bring rail to Ontario International Airport. But there's another idea floating around, according to Liset Marquez:
A report released by the Urban Land Institute on Tuesday affirmed the city's vision for the 250-acre site known as the Meredith property.
The city has long envisioned creating a core development centered on a transit plaza on the vacant land just north of the 10 Freeway and east of Vineyard Avenue.
It is one of the few remaining large undeveloped sites in the city.
And, luckily for planners, it's not too far away from the airport. But one part of the plan raises an interesting question.
The recommendations are in line with the city's vision to develop the Meredith property as a lifestyle center with high-density buildings while creating a new urban downtown, said Greg Devereaux, Ontario city manager.
(Sharp-eyed readers will notice that this is a dated story. It's from January 21.)
The one interesting part of this is that the city has spent the last few years sinking lots of money into the EXISTING downtown - and now we're looking at creating a new downtown?
My grandmother in law died recently, which meant that a family tradition has come to and end. When my wife and I would visit her, we would go to her apartment, take her out to dinner, and then my wife and grandmother (and sometimes I) would play bingo at the Sunset Station casino. Always the 7:00 pm game, because they had a triple-whatever reward. Not that we ever won, but it was something that we did. (Incidentally, I briefly mentioned this in my business blog once.)
In addition to the family issues, the game itself has an interesting appeal, which means that I have occasionally mulled over the idea of playing bingo at other locations. (And yes, I am middle aged. You probably didn't have to ask.)
Well, one potential place to play bingo is at Ontario Elks Lodge 1419. Liset Marquez posted the details:
Ontario Elks Lodge #1419 has Bingo every Wednesday Night.
Doors open at 4 p.m. and the games begin at 6:30 p.m.. There is food
service and a large open room to play in. K.D Ische is the caller.
Now this is not like cow chip bingo, and presumably is a little different than woman's club bingo.
But there's one thing I can't figure out - how does an elk hold the bingo card?
It's often fascinating to study how people and groups form opinions on various positions, and WHY these positions are formed. More often than not the explanation lies in the old saying "follow the money."
Take this story:
A new position at Los Angeles World Airports, the owner and operator of Los Angeles International Airport and Ontario International Airport, will focus on a long-discussed plan to link Los Angeles to Ontario via the Metro Gold Line light rail system.
Before proceeding, it's important to note that Ontario International Airport is owned by the city of Los Angeles, based upon a deal that happened years and years ago. That's why you'll hear some people referring to "LA/Ontario International Airport" - a term that I refuse to use. (I also refuse to refer to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." So sue me.)
Now why would Los Angeles want to own an airport way out here, when they control a huge airport within their own city limits? Because the city's own airport is being hampered by huge growth restrictions. Between environmentalist pressures and the sheer lack of space, LAX just plain can't grow at an acceptable rate to support potential additional air traffic. Hence Los Angeles has a vested interest in redirecting traffic out to their other airport property, the one out here in Ontario.
Needless to say, people here in Ontario support the idea.
Jess Romo, Ontario airport's manager, said a direct rail link between the airport and downtown Los Angeles would be vital.
"There's no doubt it would increase the passenger traffic here," he said.
That's important, because as the article notes, and as has been noted previously on this blog, Ontario International Airport has suffered some major passenger declines - partially because of September 11, and partially because of the high fees that airlines are charged to use the airport.
Yes, the same group that wants to increase use of Ontario airport also sets fees that are so high that airlines are pulling out of the airport.
Meanwhile, the people who want a rail line to Ontario airport have to compete against people who want rail lines to other places...and people who want more cops on the streets...and people who want to keep teachers from being fired.
Because while we're talking about rail systems, California's in a budget crisis. And while the rail discussions are a long-term...um...proposition, frankly I'm not certain that California's budget problems will be solved, even in the long-term.
So any talk about a rail connection to the airport may be a dream.
However, there technically IS a light rail connection between downtown Los Angeles and Ontario airport. Only problem is that the rail connection is on the wrong side of Ontario airport. 
You see, Metrolink's East Ontario station (3330 E Francis St, Ontario CA 91761) is on the south side of Ontario airport. Only problem is, the terminals are on the north side of the airport.
Perhaps a shuttle service could connect the two...but that wouldn't help on the weekends, because the Riverside line doesn't run on weekends.
And again, budgetary pressures probably mean that Metrolink service won't be expanded in the near future.
On Monday, I wrote something in my Empoprise-BI business blog about Yogurtime in Upland. In the course of writing this post, I discovered a story I had missed in 2009 - a story in which frozen yogurt became controversial.
(OK, the Billy Paul sketch on SNL had a controversial mixing of ice cream flavors, but this is different.)
Back in March, it turns out that Yogurtime had to cancel a high school fundraiser due to "threatening phone calls" - specifically, threats that people wouldn't shop at Yogurtime any more if they hosted the Upland High Gay-Straight Alliance.
Of course, the story resulted in "threatening letters" - basically, ones that said that the people wouldn't shop at Yogurtime any more because they cancelled the fundraiser.
Lots of threats here.
I saw a LinkedIn update from an ESRI contact who was preparing for the ESRI Developer Summit.
A little bit about me and ESRI - since I'm involved in the public safety arena, I've been following ESRI for some time. The fact that they're based right here in the Inland Empire, and that fact that my former employers Printrak and Motorola did business with ESRI (I assume that Motorola still does business with ESRI today), only serves to increase my interest in ESRI's goings-on. Frankly, during my time in AFIS product management, I would have liked to have incorporated geomapping into AFIS as an aid in crime-solving, but absent a lack of customer interest in using this, and paying for this, I never really pursued the idea.
If you haven't heard of ESRI, they're a Redlands-based company that provides geographic information system (GIS) software that can be incorporated into other applications (such as Motorola's computer aided dispatch application).
So what is GIS?
A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.
GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.
A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared.
GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework.
That "integrated" part is where developers come in. As noted above, ESRI's software can be incorporated into other applications, and to assist developers in doing this, ESRI provides several services, including the aforementioned ESRI Developer Summit. The summit will take place in Palm Springs (one mountain pass away from Redlands) on March 22-25, 2010. A high-level agenda has been posted, and a Twitter account (@esridevsummit) and Facebook page (esridevsummit) have been created.
And if you need to figure out how to get there, I'm sure ESRI will provide you with a map.
P.S. They have an on-site cafe with Starbucks.
In our economic and business environment, we are wired to believe that everything is always increasing. Population is always increasing. Wages are always increasing. Revenue is always increasing. And if things aren't increasing, something is wrong.
Hence the note of alarm from the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce, as recorded by David Allen:
[T]he Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce is alarmed enough by the number of closings in Chino and Chino Hills to appeal to the public.
"Because of the influx of new restaurants in the south Chino and Chino Hills area, many of the longer established restaurants all around Chino Valley are struggling to keep the doors open," writes the chamber's Jean Christy.
To which I respond, DUH! If a town has one restaurant, and a second restaurant opens, then the only way that both restaurants will prosper is if new business can be lured in from the existing population. And during a recession, that probably ain't gonna happen.
But if the number of businesses remain the same, why is the Chamber so concerned? Hints can be found in Allen's article:
Chino lost Black Angus and On the Border, both at the Spectrum, and Dickey's BBQ. (The latter especially bothered Christy because it participated in the chamber's annual Taste of the Chino Valley.)
"If that is not bad enough," Christy writes, "an icon in the Chino Valley for 15 to 20 years -- Marie Callender's in Chino Town Square -- MAY be closing effective Jan. 3." She says Callender's participates in Taste of the Chino Valley and the Dairy Festival and also contributes to other community events.
So you see why the Chamber is concerned - the businesses that are closing are the ones that happened to support the Chamber. Apparently the newly-arrived businesses aren't embedded in the community enough to support the Chamber yet - and THAT'S why Christy's concerned.
And isn't it interesting to notice that something that's been around for "15 to 20 years" suddenly becomes a revered icon? I have lived in Upland or Ontario for over a quarter century, and when I first arrived here, I had a friend who performed at a restaurant in downtown Chino. Or close enough - it was on Central Avenue, just south of Riverside. A few years later, I bet that restaurant lost business when that usurping chain restaurant Marie Callender's opened outside of downtown, threatening the established local business community. And now Marie Callender's itself is a victim of the same problem - new businesses moving in and attracting people away from the old ones.
This parallels the situation in my city of Ontario, in which patrons of Albertson's and other established stores are decrying the entry of Wal-Mart - never mind the fact that Albertson's and the other stores already lured people away from downtown Ontario.
The only way that you'll get old and new businesses to survive is to have a bunch more people migrate to the area. But of course, that would involve APARTMENTS - and we certainly can't have that.
AT&T's wireless network has been in the news over the last few months, and not in a good way, between aggressive commercials from Verizon and complaints from customers.
But in our local area, there's a bit of good news on the AT&T front.
AT&T announced last week the activation of a new 3G cell site near the intersection of 15th Street and Campus Avenue in Upland.
Writer Sandra Emerson also noted some statistics from an AT&T news release:
AT&T plans to add more than 200 cell sites in California this year and upgrade nearly 320 more sites to 3G. From 2006 to 2008...AT&T's total capital investment in its California wireless and wireline network was nearly $7.9 billion.
I'm not sure of the comparable cell site count and investment figures for competing wireless carriers.
Now since I live in Ontario, I obviously realize that the Chaffey brothers planned a very broad avenue - in this case, Euclid Avenue - as part of their plan for Ontario.
And since I've done a little bit of research, I also realize that the Chaffeys did the same thing when they left Ontario and established a settlement at Mildura, Australia. The road is now known as Sturt Highway.
But when David Allen posted a picture of Etiwanda circa 1882, I was struck by the fact that the Chaffeys did the same thing in Etiwanda. Presumably the street in question is Etiwanda Avenue.
So, my question - if you were to go to the bottom of the Salton Sea, would you find a wide boulevard running down the middle?
Sandra Emerson announced that Upland dentist Sean Lee is doing his part in the fight against tooth decay by buying Halloween candy from kids. Lee's office is paying $1 per pound, but before kids try to canvass the entire city and make a million, please note that Lee is paying a maximum of $5 per kid.
I can't find anything about this on Lee's website, but Emerson has further details.
Today is the Saturday before Oracle OpenWorld 2009. For many people it's an extremely busy day, especially if you're flying to San Francisco from a foreign country. But for me the Saturday before OpenWorld is usually a semi-lazy sort of day. My laundry's done, my suitcase is packed, but my computer (obviously) isn't, and I still have to review my cheat sheets, pick up dog poop, and take care of some other things before I go.
Twenty-four hours from now I anticipate that I'll be on a BART, heading toward my hotel in the Union Square area, and then heading down to the Moscone Center for Oracle PartnerNetwork events. And for the next five days, I will be in an urban area, an area very different from my suburban Ontario home.
Now I'll grant that staying in a Union Square hotel is not exactly the same as permanently living in the Union Square area - I won't have any need to search for a Safeway, for example - but it's different enough to merit a comparison between the way that I live for up to 51 weeks out of the year, and the way that I live for one week in San Francisco. And since I live in outer suburbia, not Manhattan, the differences are fairly striking.
So here are seven things that I'm going to miss over the next week:
Over a month ago (has it been that long?), I blogged about Steven's Hope. If you missed that post, here's an excerpt from something Sandra Emerson wrote:
Steven's Hope For Children is an Upland based non-profit organization that provides temporary hospital adjacent housing and other services to families with sick children.
Well, there are several Steven's Hope-related fundraisers coming up.
Upland Now notes that there will be a car wash this Saturday at Upland Memorial Park from 9am to 3pm, accompanied by a car and motorcycle show, a pie-eating contest, and other events. On the other side of town, a 10K run from Life Bible Fellowship to Foothill and back again will start at 7:30.
But wait! There's more in Montclair on October 14. Go here to find a link to a coupon to print out. If you bring the coupon between 4pm and 9pm, Islands will donate 20% of your bill to Steven's Hope.
My hometown of Ontario, California has been the host of a series of Nativity scenes up and down Euclid Avenue. Most are Christian, but in recent years there have been additional scenes for Baha'i and other faiths. Some atheists (particularly Patrick Greene) and some non-Christians (particularly the Anti-Defamation League) haven't been happy with the display, but the display has continued through the years.
Since the city can't fund the Nativity displays, the $10,000 in funding has to come from somewhere, and for 2009, they're seeking sponsors to fund the displays to the tune of $1,000 per display. Fittingly enough, this is for the 50th anniversary, or the "golden" anniversary, of the displays.
There are no online details of how the sponsorships will be recognized - and I was unsuccessful in finding a website for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce - but this could be either very good or very bad, depending upon how it is implemented.
I just saw something in Housing Kaboom that completely floored me.
Now there are probably very valid real estate schools of thought that dictate that you should not overbuild your house relative to your neighbors. To a point, I don't really care about very valid real estate schools of thought. If I ever find myself in the position to build my own house from scratch, I'm going to build what I like, regardless of whether it's twice the value or half the value of the neighbors or whatever.
But on the other hand, I might have a problem selling it later when I get tired of it.
Now Corona is a nice city, and I'm sure that there are very nice houses in the city. But you don't think of Corona as the place where a house would be listed for $10,995,000.
No, that's not a typo. That's not $1,995,000...that's $10,995,000.
But listen to what you get for that price:
Beds: 6
Baths: 10
Sq. Ft.: 14,873
$/Sq. Ft.: $739
Lot Size: 3.9 Acres
And that's just the numeric facts. Then you get into the textual information:
Bedroom Information
* 2 Master Bedrooms
* Dressing Room/Area
* Main Floor Bedroom
* Master Bedroom Balcony
* Master Bedroom Retreat
* Master Suite
* Sitting Room/Area
* Walk-In Closet
Fireplace Information
* Has Fireplace
* See Through
* Uses Both Gas & Wood
* In Family Room
* In Library
* In Master Bedroom
* In Master Bedroom Retreat
* Other Location
Disability Access Information
* Elevator
But wait! There's more...much more. The funniest part was toward the bottom:
Nearby Similar Listings
No similar listings could be found.
But since a picture is worth a thousand words, let me share one of the pictures associated with the listing.
No, that's not the Hearst Castle. That's the home on 1111 Casper Circle.
View Larger Map
More pictures at the listing and at Housing Kaboom.
A union organizing effort at March Air Reserve Base led to a firing, but a judge has ordered that the firing be rescinded, according to the Press Enterprise.
One of the accusations against Raul "Rudy" Trejo was as follows:
Trejo was accused of spinning the wheels of a government vehicle so violently it sprayed gravel and dust on a co-worker who was ambivalent about the union, and of using foul language during that incident and at other times.
However, not only could Trejo be identified as the person who did this, but an International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers organizer also noted something else:
Joe Young, an organizer who works out of the union's Rancho Cucamonga office, said in an interview...that because Trejo would have been driving a munitions truck, any incident involving the vehicle would have been witnessed by Military Police. No such witnesses were produced.
It should be noted that Trejo was not an employee of the military itself, but an employee of Satellite Services, out of Marquette, Michigan.
Why non-military personnel are driving munitions trucks is a whole other matter entirely.
