Carriage House Auto Vacates Blvd. Location

Carriage House Auto had always been a top sales tax producer for the city as well as permanent full time employer providing jobs for locals. I'm sure it must have been maddening when the Convention Center went into the used car business by the way of giving a venue to a nationwide car rental business to hold an annual used car sale on a car lot they only rented one weekend a year. It's not clear whether a special event permit was issued to the convention center for the car sales event or if a special permit would be required. At any rate, we can add the commercial property formerly the home of Carriage House Auto to the list of commercial space available in the City of Big Bear Lake.

Haus and Home to Close Doors

The long time furnishings and decor store will close it's doors forever on Jan. 1, 2009, according to the channel 6 TV spot I saw over the holiday weekend. This will happen at the end of their "retirement sale" that has been in progress the past few weeks. The rumor is that Big 5 Sporting Goods will give up their approved use at the "Menaldi Development" site on the Blvd. and take the empty (+/- 15,000 sf ) Interlaken Plaza space. Either way, I believe Big 5 does intend to open a store in the City of Big Bear Lake. The discussion will be interesting, I'm sure.

http://www.topix.com/city/big-bear-lake-ca/2008/06/menaldi-project-gets-ok

timbreunig@unitedwoodcraftsmen.com

Creative Cottage Closing Doors

The long time Crafters Co-Op, Creative Cottage, will close it's doors Jan. 1, 2009. The property at 645 Pine Knot (+/- 3500 sq ft ) is for lease. The owners are considering finding a smaller space and re-tooling their business model.

Explore Big Bear Lake

http://www.explorebigbearlake.com/ is the place to list your retail store, restaurant, lodge or attraction.

The website will continue to grow and will become the premiere place for visitors and customers to check out the retail scene in the Big Bear Valley.

timbreunig@unitedwoodcraftsmen

Bear Valley Electric Seeks Rate Increase

22% over 3 years is what they are asking the PUC to approve. The impact will be felt by all in the valley but lets not forget to mention businesses. This increase would just add insult to injury for the many small businesses whose bottom line keeps shrinking year after year, with operating cost increases and shrinking sales revenues that most have been experiencing the past couple of years.

The hope I have for small businesses to survive in our tourist driven local economy is for us to begin at once to market ourselves as first class retail shopping and dining destination on a year round basis. This will take some extensive investment in order to meet customer expectations. Parking, traffic circulation and public transportation issues will have to be met, as well as amenities shoppers are accustomed to experiencing, if we intend to compete in the Southern California marketplace.

Joe Nelson on Electric Rate Increase for the Valley:

timbreunig@unitedwoodcraftsmen.com

New listing at daytrippen.com

Pine Knot Village Retail Merchants, Lodges and Restaurants have a new listing a http://www.daytrippen.com/. The site promotes attractions and places to visit for the Southern California Market. ( http://www.daytrippen.com/pine-knot-village.html )

Gordon Ledgerwood of Gordon Media states that "daytrippen now gets more than 50,000 unique visitors each month" and is up considerably since 2007.

Contact daytrippen.com (info@daytrippen.com) for more info or email us below to become part of the Pine Knot Village Retail Merchants network on the daytrippen site.

timbreunig@unitedwoodcraftsmen.com

Big Bear Lake Event Organizers Meet

A group Big Bear Lake Private Event Organizers will meet on December 3, 2008 to discuss getting together to promote valley events and attractions to would-be customers down-the-hill.

The Discovery Center, San Bernardino National Forest Association, Mountain and Desert Arts Association, Arts Council of Big Bear Valley, Big Bear Snow Shoe Race and the Fawnskin Chamber of Commerce will attend this first meeting to put forth ideas on marketing local events to bolster off-season weekend and weekday visitor traffic.

timbreunig@unitedwoodcraftsmen.com

Sol Food Makes a Move

Sol Food Natural & Organic Products recently relocated its health food and organic grocery store to 41564 Big Bear Boulevard in the Alpine Center. The move – though not convenient – was motivated by a couple of factors including owner Susie Lerma’s unsuccessful attempts to renegotiate her lease with her landlord. Lerma had leased the property at the height of the market and wanted to settle on a lease option that was more equitable for both parties. Unwilling to budge, Lerma looked elsewhere.

Sol Food’s new location has turned out to be a better place for Lerma. “We are open 2 hours less per day and I am still seeing the same numbers,” she says. “I suspect not everyone knows we’re here yet and I expect to a gain in sales.” The location will likely generate interest from visitors to the Valley given its position in a center part of the Big Bear Lake retail corridor.

Sol Food sells health foods and organic groceries and offers a weekly produce co-operative. Membership in the Co-op is open to anyone and requires a monthly fee, and in return, members can purchase fresh, local and seasonally grown food and organic produce at wholesale pricing. Through the Co-op, customers are able to eat healthy and support the sustainability of local farmers in the Inland Empire – allowing small farms to continue operating.

Change is hard in the beginning and benefits aren’t always obvious. In our current economic environment, it takes guts to make a radical move and get creative.

City's Traffic Consultant to meet with Village Business Owners

On December 5, 2008 the City's newly hired Traffic Consultant will begin workshop meetings with Village Business Owners to try and pin down shortcomings in traffic circulation and parking in order to come up with a plan to accommodate the huge crowds on peak season weekends and Holidays.

Sticking points have always been the lack of a proper venue and adequate parking for entertainment and the disruption of retail commerce during special events that close Village streets and/or impact available parking to where locals and second homeowners don't even try to go into the Village.

Traffic currently comes to a standstill (during busy weekends) with each horse-drawn novelty ride and now we have added bicycle cabs to the mix. The goal is to provide a quality experience for all visitors to the Village, every day of the year.


Joe Nelson on Village Traffic Study


timbreunig@unitedwoodcraftsmen.com

Big Bear Lake Headed for the 21st Century

I certainly applaud action like this. It gives me hope that our community leaders are finally listening and will support efforts that enable us to become more competitive in the regional marketplace.

Joe Nelson on Big Bear B&B's


timbreung@unitedwoodcraftsmen.com

Affordable Housing Threatens Village Vision

At least two development companies are currently proposing affordable housing projects on the perimeter of the Village Retail Shopping district in the City of Big Bear Lake. One 32 unit two story complex on upper Pine Knot (city council meeting 9/08/08) and a 72 unit affordable rental complex on Knickerbocker (city council meeting 6/23/08).

The concerns are many. As property and business owners, our concern should be the further dilution of the retail marketplace with developments, while meeting affordable housing needs and Redevelopment timelines, that could be located in better suited residential neighborhoods. The long time practice of intermixing this type of use in commercial/retail areas is not new for the city. Just take a drive up the Moodridge corridor.

It will be my advise for retail and housing concerns to be opposed to these, or any other projects like these, for the Village without the emphasis put on commercial/retail and housing in moderation, as mixed use and subordinate to commercial use.

timbreunig@unitedwoodcraftsmen.com

Commercial Space Available

10/29/08
It's Not Just the Village


In October 2008, two more restaurants in the city closed their doors. The Mandoline Bistro, was a major fixture in the village scene. With it's fine dining (one of the top 2 or 3 in the entire valley) and cocktail & jazz bar upstairs, the closing is a huge loss to our retail marketplace. Way Back When, on lower Moonridge, had just opened a few months prior. Add these new casualties to the loss earlier in the year of Sushi Ai, and Outlaw Bar-B-Que and it paints a picture of what is happening at an alarming pace. In the retail sector, the Kite Factory on the Boulevard just threw in the towel as of Nov. 1, 2008 (see image above).

Business failures have been occurring steadily the past two years running. The current economic downturn is likely to take an additional toll in the way of more business failures and reduced local employment.

For several years now, the frustration of local retail, restaurant and lodging business owners has been the lack of marketing that is done to a demographic that can support our non-recreation segments. The only reaction from City Council members I can recall is that all outbound marketing is done by the RA and maybe more of you (retail merchants) should join them. Anybody that is familiar with the hierarchy of the City/Recreation Industry/RA relationship is fully aware that the RA is not going to change any marketing strategy or mix it's message or attitude of "what's good for the Ski Mountain is good for the valley" without an act of congress.

The world has changed. The margins that allowed someone to make a living operating a business simply supporting recreation visitors in the Valley have been eroded away. It seems our marketplace that serves a transient population of more than 100,000 on weekends can no longer support itself during the week.


Available in The Village
Mandoline 40701 Village Dr 6000 sq ft village retail/food/cocktails
Sothebys 40754 Village Dr 1200 sq ft village retail
Hungry Sparrow 575 Pine Knot Ave 450 sq ft village retail
Bear Clothing 663 B Pine Knot Ave 800 sq ft village retail
Barkery 603 Pine Knot Ave 1500 sq ft village retail
Tattoos 529 Pine Knot Ave 1800 sq ft village retail
Gourmet Coffee 40726 A Village Dr. 1800 sq ft village retail
Old Sparrow 575 Pine Knot Ave 900 sq ft village retail
Old pages in time 560 Pine Knot Ave 900 sq ft village retail
New 40900 A Village Dr 2400 sq ft village retail/office
New 40900 B Village Dr 2100 sq ft village retail/office
next or mineral store 40694 Village Dr 1200 sq ft village retail
next to mineral store 40696 Village Dr 900 sq ft village retail
Village Mall 40729 Village Dr village retail
Coffee Yogurt Express 40847 Pine Knot Ave A 1200 sq ft village retail
Cornerstone Ice Cream 40847 Pine Knot Ave B 1600 sq ft village retail
New 552 Knickerbocker 600 sq ft retail/office
New 552 Knickerbocker 650 sq ft retail/food
Happy Hearts 40717 Lakeview 900 sq ft retail/office
Real Estate 40641 A Lakeview 1000 sq ft retail/office

Available on The Boulevard
Outlaw BBQ 41618 Big Bear Blvd 2300 sq ft retail/food contact Bob Angilella (909) 878-5522
Peacock Ally 41318 Big Bear Blvd. 400 sf ft retail/office
Kite Factory 41248 Big Bear Blvd. 1600 sq ft retail/office
Antiques 41091 Big Bear Blvd 800 sq retail/office
Behind new Sol Food Big Bear Blvd 1000sq ft retail/commercial
Spa Guy 42544 Big Bear Blvd 1600 sq ft retail/commercial
Ed Jones 41570 Big Bear Blvd. 1000 sq ft
New 41067 Big Bear Blvd 800 sq ft retail/office
Out of Rockies 41491 A Big Bear Blvd. 2400 sq ft retail
Lake House 41491 B Big Bear Blvd 2400 sq ft retail
Village Printing 41506 A Big Bear Blvd. 1200 sq ft retail/office

Available on Moonridge
New 42692 Moonridge Rd. 1600 sq ft retail/office
Office Retail Frendz Salon 42621 Moonridge Rd 2000 sq ft retail/office
Office Retail country quilts closed 42662 Moonridge Rd. 1600 sq ft office/retail
Office Retail real estate 42598 Moonridge Rd. 800 sq ft retail/office
Commercial Nursery 42250 Moonridge rd. 800 sq ft retail/office
Office Retail Spencer 42612 Moonridge Rd. 2000 sq ft retail/office
New 42184 Moonridge 1100 sq ft retail/office
Way Back When 42172 Moonridge Rd. 4000 sq ft retail/food
Real Estate 42162 Moonridge 900 sq ft retail/office


Available at Interlaken Center
Office/Retail Starbucks 42140 Big Bear Lake 2400 sq ft retail/office
Restaurant Sushi Ai 42151 Big Bear Blvd 2000 sq ft retail/restaurant
Beside Dollar Tree 42162 Big Bear Blvd 1200 sq ft retail
Staters Plaza 1300 sq ft retail
Kmart Plaza 1600 sq ft retail

Available West Big Bear Lake/Boulder Bay
thai restaurant Big Bear Blvd retail/food
corner building mill creek Big Bear Blvd retail/office