Sebastopol Business Round Up
Who's coming and going in the new year?
The beginning of every new year brings new state laws, first-born babies, well-intentioned personal New Year’s resolutions and usually a bevy of activity surrounding opening and closing businesses. And Sebastopol in the first days of 2025 is proving no different, with a few well-known business names being shuttered while a scattering of new names are taking their place.
Downtown merchants and other business leaders reported a fairly busy holiday shopping season but also said they are keeping a cautious outlook into the new year with promised cost increases to sewer, water and garbage bills and more rainy winter months to go before Apple Blossom Festival season and brighter days return.
Notable business closings over recent months have included Woodfour Brewery, a founding tenant of The Barlow; Main Street’s Funk and Flash, a boho and festival clothing emporium; the local family-owned Hippizzazz everything-pizza establishment; and the Bohemian Creamery on Occidental Road, which first opened in 2010. Also, Main Street’s Seed and Sow and Luminarium announced quiet closings at the end of the year.
What’s new in town?
Despite these closings, Sebastopol’s retail and commercial areas have a low vacancy rate, with The Barlow at near capacity. The Barlow’s newest tenant, Better Sunday, is due to open with a special preview on Jan. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. offering non-alcoholic drinks, exotic elixirs and herbal concoctions. (They are expanding from an original location in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow district.)
Owner Matt Hawes is excited to bring his new non-alcoholic “right blend” drink offerings to Sonoma County’s wine country.
“I’ve been visiting Sonoma County for years, and I think this is a really true haven for what we’ve been trying to do — and that is offering a “right blend” to an established drinking culture,” he said.
Better Sunday’s hours will be from 11 am to 6 pm Sundays to Thursdays and until 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Another recent business opening is Serene Clothing at 200 South Main opened by the folks who operate Honeymoon Frozen Yogurt on Bodega Avenue around the corner. And, speaking of clothing, a little farther south of downtown at Launch Recycled Clothing at 961 South Gravenstein Highway (across from Fircrest Market), new owner Alaisa Barone is adding her personal skills of alterations, repairs and personal customizations to the recycled clothing store. “I am very happy to have a new home for my ‘sew on the go’ efforts,” she said. She is inviting old and new customers to visit her new location for recycled clothing, materials, “fabric imaginations,” and custom services.
In terms of personal care businesses, Doll House Studio opened last month in that fanciful old building at the corner of Sebastopol and Petaluma avenues. It offers lash extensions, lash lifts, brow wax, laminations, and body waxing. Blossom Nails, Skincare and Head Spa opened at 118 North Main St., offering nails, skincare and head-related services, such as facials and luxurious herbal shampoo experiences that include a head and neck massage and can last 45, 60 or 75 minutes.
Keeping an eye on business
Being successful in a small-town retail market is never easy, even in the best of times, not to mention times that still sometimes feel the shadow of a recent global pandemic.
“Overall, I think we did much better than some of us anticipated,” said Andrea Caron, owner of Silk Moon. Following the late autumn heat spells and early November rainstorms, Caron said local store owners were anxious about their end-of-year receipts. “Retail is always difficult, so we’ve just been trying to support one another — especially the new businesses that are opening,” she said.
Caron is also the volunteer president of the Sebastopol Downtown Association (SDA) and is joining efforts with Myriah Volk, the executive director of the Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce, to bring as many Sebastopol businesses together as possible to look ahead and make plans for the new year.
The two organizations are hosting an open-door meeting for local business owners and others at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Hopmonk. “We hope to build a calendar of events and set up committees,” said Caron. “Working with Myriah and the chamber, we can collaborate, strengthen and centralize our plans and efforts.”
Almost two years ago, Volk reached out to the SDA and other businesses outside the core downtown area to expand cooperative marketing efforts. After a year of writing some new bylaws and joint nonprofit agreements, the two organizations have joined forces. Caron said that both organizations and local business owners can now work together on new ideas and possible events to improve the local business climate.
“We’ve already added movie nights and more music in the plaza last year,” said Volk. “We did our sidewalk sales, and now we want to do some wine walks and other events.”
The chamber also has been leading weekly video sessions for merchants to share news and ideas. Volk added that the format has also become an unofficial “shoplifting hotline” of sorts, as shoplifting remains a perennial problem for Sebastopol businesses.
Also in the future is the possibility of new monies and grants from the national Main Street America organization that Caron recently joined. “This would give us the possibility of supporting other businesses in both the north and south districts of Sebastopol. And the Sebastopol Center for the Arts also has applied for a Main Street grant.”
Volk said the chamber is planning a series of quarterly lunches in 2025 on small business topics. She also mentioned that the theme for the 2025 Apple Blossom Festival and Parade, the Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce’s main fundraiser, is “Flower Power.”
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I value our downtown businesses and often can't resist including a visit to the downtown area when I walk. If a business is open I am often pulled in to shop a little bit!
Great to see Rollie and business news in the Sebastopol Times. Thank you!