The Burlingame Voice

Seven Diamonds

I know a bit about collecting and analyzing customer feedback to rate companies' products and services.  For that reason, I like the Diamond Certified ratings as a method for rating local companies.  There are probably more B'game companies than the seven listed in the print listing in the San Mateo Mercury Times, but these are the only ones that list a B'game address:

Peninsula Prime Motorz (621 California), Autohaus Schmid (1213 Rollins), Prime Time Athletic Club (1730 Rollins), All Natural Stone (1575 Adrian), Carmen Miranda at Alain Pinel Realtors (1440 Chapin), Rebarts Interiors (247 California) and Bay Area Window Pros (215 Highland).

According to the methods used, they all get a 90 or better rating from real customers along with some other criteria.  Kudos to all.  Shop B'game!

Fattening the Goo$e

I think it was former councilwoman Rosalie O'Mahony who called the B'game car dealerships our "Golden Goose".  And she was right.  Along with the hotels' Transient Occupancy Tax ("TOT") and various liquor establishments, the car dealerships keep the City coffers from draining.  So the arrival of a new Nissan dealership is a welcome addition to Autorow.  Apparently Millbrae's loss is our gain.  This storefront could use a good cosmetic clean-up which I am sure it will get before you browse the new Leafs, Altimas, Maximas and 370Zs.

 

The Avenue is Ever Anew

The rapid pace of change on B'game Ave continues.  There is movement among locations by some merchants, construction at some store locations and a couple more retail fatalities including Bonarda which has bitten the dust,

 
I keep meaning to count the yogurt places in the downtown area, but I need to bring a pencil and paper since I may not have enough fingers at this point.

Corner Wine Bar?

A story in the Daily Journal about the 750ml wine bar changing to "Grape and Grain" reminded me of something I heard might be coming to the Avenew.  Down in San Mateo

On Sundays, Simpson plans to host events like wine education classes or visits from winemakers, and at night he said the bar will be a place people can “go to escape their kids or whatever and relax for a bit.” He said he’s always willing to talk with people about wine, but “my main goal is just to create a place where people can just have fun, and if anything simplify the wine industry.”

“In the suburbs, wine bars embrace a little bit of the cheesy aspect of the industry. They create this kind of nicer upscale type feeling and people feel they have to adhere to a certain code,” Simpson said. “I’ve visited a lot of wine bars in the city and they sort of more embrace the organic nature of a wine bar. They keep with the trends. I wanted to bring a little slice of the city down into the suburbs.”

I hear the old Smoke Shop may be transformed into a wine bar as well.  With the departure of Nectar, there is room for one on the Avenew and I'm guessing it won't be cheesy.

 

 

Space Available

The old Walgreen's site is coming along nicely.  Cassidy Turley BT Commercial has the listing for the spaces in the new building.  Perusing their web site, we note that there is some interesting stuff for sale in town.

The Walgreen's site is pretty well spoken for with the tenants we have noted before, like Five Guys' Burgers & Fries, but apparently the top floor is still available.  Should be pretty cool space and the outdoor patio area with a view of the hills at sunset should be nice too!

Curves - What Happened?

Does anyone know what happened to Curves?  It looks a bit like a fire happened and the sign on the front is a construction company, not a realtor's sign.

 
I hope the building is still sound.

Smoke Shop Closure

Blogger Fred notes

It wasn't quite the Burlingame institution it used to be, but it is worth noting that the Burlingame Avenue Smoke Shop is closed. The building has been sold and the smoke shop is no more.

To which Blogger Jennifer replies

Ah, too bad. It certainly was a nice hang-out for us kids for many decades.

We thought such a passing deserved its own thread.  With the split off of the cigar shop as a pure smokers' paradise, the old Smoke Shop lost a bit of cachet.

 

Business Tax Increase?

The Daily Journal is tracking the proposal to do something different than a flat $100 per year with the B'game business tax.  While the outside auditor who tracks down people who aren't paying even that, the next question is how to split up any increase

There are 544 Burlingame businesses with 10 or more employees. Raising the tax for these businesses by an additional $100 to $400 would generate $54,400 to $217,600 respectively, Nava wrote. If the number of employees was dropped to five, the number of businesses increases to 992. Raising the tax for these businesses by an additional $100 to $400 would generate $99,200 to $396,800, Nava wrote.

Here's the link to the Frequently Asked Questions about the tax from the City's website.  This is a hot button issue.  Will there be a crowd tonight?

 

Safeway Part 64 - Nice Pad

I happened to check out the "new" Safeway on Peninsula Ave. this week and while it was an acceptable facelift, I'm glad we will be getting the full treatment.  Here is the produce section of the Peninsula Ave. store

 
But I think this store will pale in comparison to the new Howard Ave. store.  Here is a photo of the concrete pad that was poured this week.  Given the magnitude of this project, it deserved all the scrutiny it got!

 

Any Bargain Gas in B'game?

Just as I was thinking about gas prices again, today's Daily Post has a blurb on the front page titled Gas Prices Soaring:

U.S. gasoline prices have jumped to the highest levels ever for the middle of February.  The national average hit $3.127 per gallon yesterday, about 50 cents above a year ago.

I buy gas all over the place--Bob's because I like the service and the idea of an independent station owner, the 76 on B'way because it's central, and the Shell out on Old Bayshore because of the car wash.  I notice all sorts of cabs and limos buying gas out there for, I assume, the same reason.  Where do y'all go and why?