San Carlos Businesses on Twitter

August 25, 2010 Downtown Business Spotlight, Living in San Carlos 3 Comments

A Great Business Tool…

Twitter is an amazing online tool for posting 140-character, real-time updates on….well, just about anything. The early users of Twitter used the tool to update people on their whereabouts, like “I’m eating dinner at Town” or “Just dropped the kids off at school.” OK, I guess there was some importance to informing the world on the minutiae of their day. Since those early days of Twitter, the basics of the technology have remained largely unchanged, but how the tool is being used couldn’t be any different.

All of the major news networks now use Twitter as an effective way to post breaking news and draw traffic back to their websites. “The Miracle on the Hudson” plane crash was first broken and covered on Twitter by witnesses and survivors, not by cable news networks like CNN. And now, smart business owners are finding interesting ways to promote their company and their brand image on this medium.

San Carlos Businesses That Use Twitter.

There are a handful of San Carlos business owners who have embraced the real-time capabilities of Twitter to uniquely and effectively promote their businesses. The technology is a perfect match for businesses whose products or services may change on a daily or hourly basis. Here are three examples of San Carlos business owners who have truly elevated their brand image and customer awareness in this way:

Zest Bakery: Our newest bakery in town also happens to be one of the few gluten-free bakeries on the Peninsula. They post real-time updates about what specials they have on a particular day, and what samples are sitting warm and toasty on their counter. Last week, they posted a picture of a lemon cake glazed with chocolate icing. That’s just not playing fair

Jett Cakes: Food trucks have been around for decades..but specialty cupcakes on the road? That’s a very unique business idea that totally relies on a) great cupcakes, obviously… and b) customers knowing where you’re going to be and when every day. Marianne does a great job of using Twitter to take care of the latter, posting tweets about what her special baked treats are for that day, and where she will be selling them.

The Reading Bug: Books – talk about an ever-changing industry! The key for small, specialty bookstores to compete with the big, online gorillas is to get people into their stores. The Reading Bug shines in this area by hosting reading sessions for the kids, and by constantly getting new releases into their inventory — all things that you can find out about on their Twitter page.

Wait…There’s More.

These three aren’t the only San Carlos businesses that use Twitter. Here’s what I’m sure is just a partial list of businesses who are putting their business online in a cool fashion. Just click on the name to go right to their Twitter feed.

Did I miss anyone? Of course I did! If you know of a San Carlos business that isn’t mentioned above and is using Twitter in a cool and unique fashion, let us know by leaving a comment below. I’ll add it to the Twitter List that I have already started to compile: San Carlos Businesses on Twitter. Feel free to follow this list on your own Twitter account!

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Dollar Tree Coming to San Carlos?

July 19, 2010 Downtown Business Spotlight, Living in San Carlos 19 Comments

Update — 7/26:

The San Carlos Planning Commission has just given the go-ahead needed for the Dollar Store to move into the space formerly occupied by Hollywood Video.

Former Hollywood Video Site.

A Dollar Tree store in San Carlos? It could happen. A few years after a competing store was blocked from setting up shop in what is now Bianchini’s Market, the Dollar Tree is eyeing the spot of the former Hollywood Video Store that’s in the Home Depot/Lucky’s parking lot on Old County Road. For those of you not familiar with the Dollar Tree (or other stores like it) they sell a bunch of stuff that’s priced at $1, hence their name.

In tonight’s Planning Commission Meeting, the owner of the building at 1121 Old County Road will ask the City to modify the conditional use permit that’s in place for the building, thus clearing the way for a wider variety of uses for the building…like a Dollar Tree store. For more information, check out this article in the Daily Journal..

What Do You Think?

San Carlos residents already punted on the idea of a “discount” store like this one, but it was closer to downtown. What do you think about a Dollar Tree store in San Carlos?

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Psst!!.. do you like what you’re reading? Click here to subscribe to the site for free, and you’ll get updates sent automatically to you. And for more information about San Carlos, be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook and on Twitter.
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“Why Doesn’t San Carlos Have a Peet’s Coffee?”

July 12, 2010 Downtown Business Spotlight, Living in San Carlos 6 Comments

Conspicuously Absent

It’s a question that I seem to hear all the time.

There’s no doubt that downtown San Carlos has a healthy appetite for caffeine. How else could a town as small as this support no fewer than three Starbucks stores, as well as a host of other boutique coffee shops? (Speaking of which, I am still convinced that Plantation makes the best cappuccino in town.) Combine this with the seemingly endless string of new restaurants opening up on Laurel Street, and you’d think there would be enough options for every caffeinated palate.

But there’s one notable exception…

A Loyal Following

Coffee drinkers have preferences that are as strong as the coffee that they drink, and Peet’s Coffee and Tea has a very loyal and growing customer base. So I’m not surprised to hear people ask “Why doesn’t San Carlos have a Peet’s Coffee?” At one time, it was widely rumored that a Peet’s was going to open in the bottom-floor retail space at the 1001 Laurel Street condo complex. But that doesn’t appear to be happening. So for now, fans need to schlep to Redwood City or Belmont to get their Peet’s fix.

So what do you think? Is there room in downtown San Carlos for one more coffee shop? Would a Peet’s Coffee survive in downtown San Carlos? Hmmm, we haven’t had a poll in a while on the site…

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White Oaks Nabs Its Own Sandwich Shop

July 10, 2010 Downtown Business Spotlight, Living in San Carlos No Comments

The Sandwich Spot

White Oaks residents no longer need to trek up to the north section of Laurel Avenue to grab a deli sandwich. The Sandwich Spot just opened their doors a couple of weeks ago, giving White Oaks residents a great alternative for a quick lunch. The Sandwich Spot features a large array of both hot and cold sandwiches, like a any good deli should. However, they take it a step further by offering their own special spreads on some of the sandwiches (I was told the garlic spread is outstanding!) and they actually bake some of their bread right there in the deli. The sandwich that we ordered was easily large enough to split between two people, and it was very good!

As you can see from the picture below, the Sandwich Spot shares a roof with the White Oaks Flower Shoppe, which used to occupy the entire building at 1312 Laurel Street — kitty corner to Skinny Sippin’ at Howard and Laurel.

The Sandwich Spot San Carlos

According to the owners, this “arrangement” of flowers and sandwiches is quite synergistic – so much so, that there’s a walkway that connects both businesses from the inside. Grab a sandwich, and then buy your cardiologist a bouquet of flowers?

So check out the Sandwich Spot. The sandwiches are great, and you won’t leave hungry!

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Psst!!.. do you like what you’re reading? Click here to subscribe to the site for free, and you’ll get updates sent automatically to you. And for more information about San Carlos, be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook and on Twitter.
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“Flight Lounge” Takes Off in San Carlos.

June 10, 2010 Downtown Business Spotlight 1 Comment

“Flight” is the Theme.

Combining our nostalgia for air travel along with our passion for fine wines, the Flight Lounge in San Carlos has created an interesting twist on what you would expect in a traditional wine bar. When he opened the Flight Lounge in mid-March of this year at 971 Laurel Street, general manager and San Carlos resident Taylor Brough wanted to recreate that unique sense you get in an upscale airport flight lounge — a place where you can immediately step away from the break-neck pace of the travel day, and relax with a great glass of wine (or beer).

The theme of air travel is pervasive at the Flight Lounge, from the pictures of circa-1930′s commercial airplanes that adorn the walls to the bar that’s actually shaped like an airplane wing. And no airport lounge would be worth it’s salt without keeping you up to date on the latest in news and sports. They have that based covered well with a number of high-definition flat-screen TV’s that show news and sports.

Wine Flights.

The flight theme doesn’t just stop with the decor. On the wine menu, Brough has created a series of wine “flights”, which are basically samples of wines from a particular region of the world. So if you order the South African flight, you’ll get three samples of wines that Brough hand-picked from South African vintners. There are other wine flights that cover not only international destinations, but also wines that are made locally– even right here in San Carlos. The idea is to mix relaxation with a little education and appreciation of wines from around the globe, and Brough has made an extra effort to feature wines that you may not find at other restaurants in the area.

Another interesting feature is that you can buy wines by the bottle at the Flight Lounge. If you happen to take a fancy to a particular wine, or you simply don’t want to run down to Lucky’s at 11:30 at night, you can purchase a full bottle right there — and you get a 10% discount to boot.

Light Fare, Late Hours.

Much like its namesake, the Flight Lounge isn’t intended to be a full-service restaurant. Their menu features light fare, with only one daily hot special along with other light fare like local cheeses and snacks. But that makes for another interesting twist — not only is bringing your own food in allowed, it’s actually encouraged. Getting take-out food delivered right to the Flight Lounge is a pretty normal occurrence, especially from their next-door neighbor Refuge!

Unlike many full service restaurants that close at 9:30-10:00 PM every night, the Flight Lounge stays open until 1:00 AM. Clearly, the intent is to cater to adults who are looking to “get out” for the evening — consequently it’s only open to the 21-and over crowd.

Mid-Laurel Street Rebirth.

Rather than set up shop in the competitive (and pricey) northern section of Laurel Street, they decided to focus on the central section of Laurel – they now occupy the space where the old tropical fish store used to be at 971 Laurel Street, right next to Refuge. As this part of Laurel Street continues to transform, this may turn out to be a very smart decision. This stretch of Laurel is much closer to residents of White Oaks and Howard Park than is the northern stretch. They already get a nice walk-in crowd from the residents at 1001 Laurel, and he sees the same thing happening with homeowners in the flatlands of San Carlos. It offers a fun destination that’s only a short walk away.

Connect with Flight Lounge.

If you want to keep tabs on what’s happening at Flight Lounge, or what’s events are planned for the future, you can follow Flight Lounge on Twitter, or you can become of fan of their Facebook Page. You can even check out their reviews on Yelp to see what others think about this unique place.

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Psst!!.. do you like what you’re reading? Click here to subscribe to the site for free, and you’ll get updates sent automatically to you. And for more information about San Carlos, be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook and on Twitter.
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Coming Soon to San Carlos: Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt.

May 27, 2010 Downtown Business Spotlight, Living in San Carlos No Comments

Round II of the Frozen Yogurt Battle…

Trying to succeed where another large frozen yogurt chain has failed, Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt announced they will be opening up a store-front in San Carlos in the near future. Unlike its predecessor Red Mango, who chose to do battle with incumbent Harmony Yogurt right on the same block, Tutti Frutti will lay claim to the north end of the downtown shopping district when they open their doors at 1148 San Carlos Avenue (site of the old Niko Lighting business).

There isn’t a publicly announced opening date, but they claim on their Facebook page that they’ll be opening in a matter of weeks. It seems to be an excellent location, as they’re right next door to San Remo’s, and they should be able to benefit from all of the foot traffic that the north part of downtown enjoys. According to the Facebook page, they may have a self-serve section, which will give it a little different spin from Harmony. Should be interesting to see if two specialty yogurt stores can coexist and thrive in San Carlos!

(Thanks to blog reader Maryanne for the tip on this…)

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Psst!!.. do you like what you’re reading? Click here to subscribe to the site for free, and you’ll get updates sent automatically to you. And for more information about San Carlos, be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook and on Twitter.
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