SUPER MEGA POST: Encinitas Business Comings and Goings

As the holiday season gets to Encinitas, residents are about to be presented with a bunch of new businesses opening up.  As reported here, Hooked on Sushi's construction is still ongoing, and an opening looks to be a few months off still.  Using our expert investigative journalism skills (I went for a run this weekend), we've uncovered a number of other changes to the Encinitas business landscape.

Ogata Update
 

As we reported a few weeks ago, long time downtown Encinitas sushi joint, Ogata, shuttered and sold off it's remaining inventory.  It didn't take long for a new restaurant to swipe the Ogata prime location.  With such a quick turnaround in tenants, I'd guess that Ogata simply didn't want to renew their lease, rather than them being forced financially to close.  Anyways, in it's place, filling a crucial area of dining need [sarcasm], a new Mexican restaurant, Vallarta Express, is moving in.  In the desert of taco shops here in Encinitas, I'm just glad we will finally have an option for affordable, quick service Mexican food [dripping with sarcasm].

Yoga Clothing Wars: Prana

In a clear declaration of war on Lululemon, Carlsbad headquartered Prana is planting a flag in downtown Encinitas, next door to the above Ogata/Vallarta Express location, which was formerly the Cork and Keg Liquor store.  In this neverending battle for the hearts, minds and pants of local wealthy housewives, Prana will be selling their brand of yoga and outdoors clothing.  It will be interesting to see at the Cardiff Kook 5/10K whether Prana will have made a dent in the omniscience of Lululemon with our active residents. 

Hammer's Pizza

Discovered this morning, filling another CRITICAL area of Encinitas food need [SO MUCH SARCASM], Hammer's Pizza, offering hand tossed and stone oven baked pizza is moving into a small strip center on El Camino Real (the Timekeepers shopping center next to Cotixan).  They have a Yelp entry up already with a bunch of generic pictures, so time will tell what their menu and interior will look like.  Judging from the square footage, I'd be betting on a take out/delivery type business.  Thank goodness for Encinitas residents, our long battle of trying to find a pizza or taco shop are finally over.  Seriously, could we just get someone to open a Peruvian chicken place around here?!

Light Bulbs Unlimited

I remember making fun of Light Bulbs Unlimited as a kid when it first opened, scoffing at opening a store that only sold light bulbs.  As it turns out, they sold all kinds of lighting fixtures, and here we are, 20 years later, and they are still open.  Or were open, I should say.  It looks like this week is their final push to sell off the rest of their inventory and shut down.  This morning, inventory was being displayed on the sidewalk for quick sales.  If you're in immediate need of lighting fixtures, I'd head over today and offer up a nice lowball offer. 

Grace-ful Living

No photo for this one, but Grace-ful Living, a furniture store next door to Best Buy in the Encinitas Ranch Town Center is apparently closing.  Marketing the going out of business sale as a "Retirement Sale", all remaining inventory looks like it is being liquidated.  Grace-ful Living has only been open for a little over a year, and had a glowing profile in the Del Mar Times/Encinitas Advocat.  Unfortunately, it looks like their time has run out and the relatively large square footage of this location will once again come on the market.  Let's all pray we can get some type of Craftsman Tavern type place to swipe this location and up the dining scene in this landmark shopping center.

Encinitas Ranch Town Center Mystery!

No photo for this one either, but the former Party City location in the Encinitas Ranch Town Center is undergoing some type of demolition and front facade construction to totally remake that portion of the Einstein Brothers/Wahoo's strip.  Party City was a relatively large square footage location and has the footprint to make a great restaurant with outdoor dining.  Let's hope this is what's coming in, because other than that, I can't see the logic in performing the level of demolition and construction their doing right now for a new retail store.

That's all from the Encinitas Report for now.  Have a happy holidays!

Mo Muir: Apparently Above The Law

While elections are exciting and all, there is usually a wind down period after Election Day where the bevy of campaign signs get taken down and our streets stop looking like the worst.  In fact, taking down signs is just part of complying with local law.  Apparently this law doesn't apply to all candidates though:

Note that it's now well over a month since Election Day.  Also note that this location, the former Mattress Discounters, is a mere 200 yards or so from the Sheriff's station.  If citations aren't being issued, they should be.  I've got nothing against Muir, but leaving signs up (posted on private property also) is patently disrespecting the community she claims to serve.

Sushi Report: Ogata Performs Seppuku; Hooked On Sushi Moves Into Town

 

In the world of food, there are a few things Encinitas has plenty of: taco shops, pizza joints and sushi restaurants.  Even when we lose a sushi place, another one just pops up and takes it's place; not that too many sushi places is a bad thing.  Long time downtown sushi restaurant Ogata has called it quits.  They were selling all of their surplus beer, inventory, and fixtures this weekend in what they called a "thank you sale".  No word on what will take this piece of prime real estate.

At the same time, New Encinitas is getting another sushi restaurant to compete with Kaito, Blue Fin, Mr. Sushi, Suyaki and Sushi House.  Taking the place of Stone Flats in the Vons/Chipotle/Pep Boys shopping center, Hooked On Sushi has a sign up and a liquor license notice in the window, although interior work looks to have not progressed very far.  Hooked on Sushi looks to be the second location of this restaurant, with the first location across El Camino from Plaza Camino Real.  Their menu looks to have quite a few sushi options, but also a pretty extensive non-sushi Japanese menu.  At the very least, we can look forward to increased competition leading to more and better coupons in the coupon circulars showing up in our mailboxes.

How Many Houses Can You Squeeze Into 1.53 Acres?

How many houses can developers fit on 1.53 acres of land?  It's not the setup for a joke, it's a real question that we now know the answer to.  On the site of what used to be Del Mar Fabricating, Citymark has been able to jam ELEVEN single family homes on 1.53 acres in their Primrose Lane development.  Check it out!

Of course, I don't recall hearing any of the anti-density folks complaining about this project, most likely because it is tucked away in a corner of New Encinitas.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Located on directly on Olivenhain Road, it's obviously got road noise issues.  Even with the noise, it's shocking in this real estate market that one of these houses is still unsold.  It's even going for a reasonable $717K for 5 BR's. 

This new development is especially great for the Willowcreek neighborhood below Primrose Lane who now has to create walls of bamboo to try and reserve some privacy.

We can look forward to more of this type of in-fill development with the housing talks going on.  SHOCKINGLY, New Encinitas is once again being forced to carry the largest burden of new housing in the city's "here are three sucky options and there is no none of the above" selection process.

What is the Deal with Magic Market and Bakery?

Encinitas has bakeries that are renowned across the county, highlighted by Elizabethan Desserts.  It also has had bakeries flame out recently, specifically the well regarded Dos Palmas in Leucadia.  It looks like the closing of Dos Palmas hasn't scared away new entrants into the bakery market as a sign went up in Little Oaks Plaza (Farr Better Spirits/La Costa Kids shopping center).  Whatever Magic Market and Bakery is, a sign is now up.  I've done my best at doing open source internet research and cannot find anything other than incorporation documents.  No Facebook, no Twitter, no website, no advance marketing at all.  Since I like bakeries, and I want to see new businesses in Encinitas, I hope these owners know what they're doing.  Not only is the Little Oaks Plaza shopping center not heavily trafficked, Magic Market and Bakery has literally the worst location in the center.  Maybe top 5 worst retail locations in 92024.  Here's the overhead view:

And here's the Street View:

All I can say is that I hope the rent is cheap.  New businesses are hard enough to start up without terrible locations.  It's like starting behind the eight ball.  I still hope to track down the owners of Magic Market and Bakery and find out what they're all about, and obviously will post that info here.  Until then, this new joint will remain a mystery to all of us.

Pacific View Purchase an Affront to New Encinitas Residents Craving Public Spaces

Much has been said about the Encinitas City Council's $10 million (before taking into account bond financing costs) purchase of the decrepit Pacific View elementary school in downtown Encinitas during this election season. Most of the focus has been centered on the bottom line cost of the acquisition, the financing methods, the poor negotiation skills of the council and the fact that the parcel was bought with no specific usage in mind. The prevailing opinion has been that Pacific View will be converted into an arts center. What has been said very little is that the city has had a parcel available for use as an arts center for well over a decade now sitting in forgotten New Encinitas. When the Encinitas Ranch Town Center was built on the former flower fields along El Camino Real, a parcel was set-aside to be available for an arts center. This parcel is the open space between what used to be a Blockbuster Video, now a Chase Bank, and the Aaron Brothers/Mattress store building. In the past, it has been stated that his would make for a beautiful open air theater, providing Encinitas residents with a pristine local arts center. Lisa Shaffer, during her original campaign for city council, stated:

"The City has rights to a parcel in the Encinitas Ranch Town Center for a theater and other community uses, as defined in the Encinitas Ranch Specific Plan. Council expressed interest in looking for ways to put that space (now vacant and weed-filled) to use as soon as possible, and to explore concepts such as an open-air theater shell and a farmer’s market. I agree with the observation by Mayor Barth that New Encinitas deserves more public spaces and that this vacant lot should be used for the community."

Apparently, during her two years in office since then, Lisa has forgotten that "New Encinitas deserves more public spaces" and decided instead to mortgage the city's future on an asbestos laden elementary school in an effort to beholden herself to the nearby wealthy homeowners who do not want the parcel developed. On top of that, those residents get more city [debt financed] investment into an arts center that they can walk to, all at the expense of the other 61,000 Encinitas residents. GLAD TO CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE!

As a New Encinitas resident, it would have been fantastic to have an open air arts center that my family could walk to. It certainly beats having the vacant lot (that I'm certain would not have cost $10 million to develop) that is sitting in Encinitas Ranch now.

Introduction to Encinitas Report!

I am what some consider a unicorn around Encinitas these days. I grew up just across Olivenhain Road from Encinitas, attended EUSD and San Dieguito schools, went away to college, lived away for ten years to build a career, and made a triumphant return to my home, here in Encinitas - even managed to buy a house and start raising a family. The Encinitas blogosphere has been recently growing and fantastically covering local politics, but with that rise, there has also been stagnation in covering issues that affect the average Encinitan: new store openings, traffic issues, school triumphs/problems. In fact, if you read the other blogs, you'd have a hard time realizing that most of New Encinitas, a huge local population center, even exists. It's all 101 corridor talk, which is great, because it is an important part of the Encinitas lifestyle, but there is so much more to this town than Leucadia and Old Encinitas. ENCreport will attempt to cover the city as a whole and present stories of interest to all residents.