March 27, 2015
Concord Pioneer • www.concordpioneer.com
Page 9
BUSINESS
Park & Shop hitting a sweet spot GEORGE FULMORE Correspondent
Concord’s Park & Shop is thriving, mainly because of a blend of restaurants and stores that have become destinations. Of course, there is Fry’s Electronics – the only Fry’s between Fremont and Sacramento. There are also specialty stores, such as the Jo-Ann Superstore and Burlington Coat Factory. Ethnic shops draw customers from the Asian, Latino and other communities. Las Montañas Super Market, 99 Ranch Market and the Mediterranean Restaurant are examples of the more than 20 such markets or restaurants in the center. And then there are franchises, Starbucks, Subway or McDonald’s, combined with places that have been draws for years – such as Chick’s Donuts (circa 1955). The center, built during the post-WWII, suburban-expansion boom, has a “crossover” aspect.
Concord’s emerging Latino middle-class families – many of them living within walking distance – have discovered one of the busiest places, China Wall Buffet. The 99 Ranch Market, draws a blend of customers in addition to the base of Asian regulars. “Right now, Park & Shop as a retail center is wildly successful,” says Paul Sinz, president of Contra Costa Properties, which manages the surrounding infrastructure for most of the buildings north of Willow Pass Road. With nearly 30 years on the job, he remembers when 40 percent of the property was vacant and the remaining stores were “barely making it.” Now, only one store is vacant in a string of 75 retail sites more than a third of a mile long. Sinz attributes the eclectic mix to the fact that there are 21 different owners of the 25 buildings involved. It’s a combination of elements that simply works, as
S TAFF W RITERS : Peggy Spear, Pamela Wiesendanger, Jay Bedecarré
C ORRESPONDENTS : Cynthia Gregory, Patricia Romero, John Jackson, John T. Miller
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CONCORD’S PARK & SHOP CENTER on Willow Pass Rd. once had a 40 percent vacancy rate. Today, only one store is vacant.
if the whole were greater than the sum of its parts. “Ever since 99 Ranch Market moved in, the place has gone crazy,” notes seamstress Suzan Avakian. The long-time Concord resident has been with Parkside Cleaners (formerly One-Hour Cleaners) for nearly 35 years. “It seems like we are always busy,” she adds. Coming soon to join the fun is the 4,000 sq. ft. Rockin’ Crawfish, which manager Jennifer Le describes as “Asian fusion.”
In a sense, Park & Shop is a victim of its own success. Parking can be a challenge, especially on weekends or during the noon rush. The center opened in the mid-’50s on former swampland. The first major tenants – Penny’s, Rhodes and W.T. Grant – are long gone. But one thing still stands strong: the 120-foot Park & Shop tower. It has been there since the start, originally topped by a giant “C.”
Oakmont center adopts new parking plan JOHN T. MILLER Correspondent
The city of Concord and the new Oakmont Senior Living Center planned for Waterworld Parkway, negotiated an agreement over perceived parking issues on the 2.42-acre site at the Feb. 24 City Council meeting. Oakmont adopted a Transportation Management Plan to address parking concerns at the
two-story, 76-unit senior assisted living facility to be built at the corner of Waterworld Parkway and Civic Court. In addition to the 31 on-site parking spaces, the Santa Rosabased Oakmont Management Group would lease 20 spaces at the nearby parking garage. The group also will post information about public transportation, carpooling for employees and how to lodge a complaint if
P.O. Box 1246 6200 Center Street, Suite H, Clayton, CA 94517 TAMARA AND R OBERT S TEINER , Publishers TAMARA S TEINER , Editor P ETE C RUZ , Graphic Design P EGGY S PEAR , Copy Editor J AY B EDECARRÉ, Sports Editor PAMELA W IESENDANGER , Administration, Calendar Editor
problems occur. Ongoing monitoring of parking could result in the implementation of other measures, including valet parking for special events, on-call car service for residents, on-call shuttle service to and from BART and other transit centers, and an employee shuttle to Oakmont’s facility on Montecito. Some street parking is available near the site, but the Coun-
ty Connection bus system plans to install a stop there, red-zoning those places. Concord Mayor Tim Grayson praised the work of the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission, calling the plan a “win for Concord and for our aging community.” The agreement is restricted to the current builder, and the issue could be reopened if the building is sold.
Tel: (925) 672-0500 Fax: (925) 672-6580 Tamara Steiner editor@concordpioneer.com Send Ads to ads@concordpioneer.com Send Sports News to sports@concordpioneer.com Send School, Club and Calendar Items to newsandcalendar@concordpioneer.com
The Clayton Pioneer and the Concord Pioneer are monthly publications delivered free to homes and businesses in 94517, 94518, 94519 and 94521. ZIP code 94520 is currently served by drop site distribution. The papers are published by Clayton Pioneer, Inc., Tamara and Robert Steiner, PO 1246, Clayton, CA 94517. The offices are located at 6200 Center St. Suite H, Clayton, CA 94517 LET US KNOW Weddings, anniversaries, births and deaths all weave together as part of the fabric of our community. Please let us know of these important events. We ask only that the announcement be for a resident in our home delivery area. Submit on our website and be sure to attach a JPG photo that is at least 3 MB. Also on the website are forms for calendar items, events & press releases. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Both Pioneer newspapers welcome letters from our readers. As a general rule, letters should be 175
words or less and submitted at least one week prior to publication date. Letters concerning current issues will have priority. We may edit letters for length and clarity. All letters will be published at the editor’s discretion. Please include name, address and daytime telephone number. We will not print anonymous letters. E-mail your letter to editor@concordpioneer.com. Letters must be submitted via Email. CIRCULATION as of Sept. 2014 The Concord Pioneer is delivered monthly to 30,000 homes and businesses Papers are delivered by carriers for ABC Direct around the last Friday of the month. To stop delivery for any reason, call the office at (925) 672-0500 . If you are NOT receiving the Pioneer, please check the distribution map on the website. If you live in the shaded area and are not receiving the paper, please let us know. If you are not in the shaded area, please be patient. We will come to your neighborhood soon. The Clayton Pioneer is delivered by US Mail to 5,500 homes and businesses in 94517 around the second Friday of the month. SUBSCRIPTIONS To subscribe to either the Clayton Pioneer or the Concord Pioneer, call the office at (925) 672-0500. Subscriptions are $35/year for each paper, $60/year for both.
Neighborhood Spotlight Concord Park neighborhood always has an eye on improvements
WHEN CONCORD PARK OPENED in 1950, this ad for the new homes appeared in the Oakland Tribune.
The Concord Park neighborhood has come a long way since its days as a cow pasture. The neighborhood is one block at the center of Detroit Avenue. It consists of Todd, Lynn and Cross Way streets, opposite from Meadow Homes park and elementary school. Before World War II, there was only Galindo Creek meandering and one giant oak tree. A subdivision of 64 homes arrived in 1950. It was one of only a few subdivisions in southern Concord at the time, along with Tree Heaven and Meadow Homes. “The first thing I liked about the neighborhood was the mature Modesto ash trees along the street with their canopy spreading over,” recalls Concord Park resident
David Pitman. “When I bought my house, what I liked about it was that it reminded me of the home I grew up in – also built after the war. Both houses have a big picture window at the front porch, a built-in ironing board, French doors opening to the patio, and a backyard big enough for both a lawn to play on and a little orchard of fruit trees.” In the 1990s, Tom Marcellis organized the Concord Park Neighborhood Association and a Neighborhood Watch program to help solve the area’s problems – which included the safety of children walking to the elementary school. “We didn’t have the curb, gutter and sidewalk infrastructure on our side of Detroit Avenue, so the
children had to walk in the traffic lane to get around parked cars,” Pitman says. The city engineer suggested the neighborhood association apply for a Community Development Block Grant in collaboration with Concord’s engineering department. The sidewalk on Detroit’s east side, from Lynn Avenue to Walters Way, was constructed in 2002 as a result of those efforts. In 2000, Marcellis asked Pitman to chair the association. “Here is where I had my introduction into community leadership,” Pitman notes. Pitman applied for another grant, which completed gaps in the sidewalk on the east side of Detroit from Walters Way down to the corner at Monument Boulevard in 2004. In 2012, Pitman went on a “walk audit” with people from Monument Impact and First 5 Central County Regional Group. “We walked the length of Detroit Avenue and noted many conditions unsafe for pedestrians,” Pitman says. The Detroit Avenue Complete Streets grant referenced the audit report. The improvement project
will address sidewalk gaps that remain on the west side of the street. Patricia Taylor, the neighborhood association chair in 2004, got the group involved in emergency preparedness. Board members took training classes and became part of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). By 2009, the neighborhood had its own weekly network on Family Radio Service (FRS) twoway radios. Also that year, the local CERT team conducted an activation drill with the Great California Shake-Out Earthquake Drill. In 2013, Pitman and current association chair Nik Broman helped plan the city’s CERT activation and mobilization drill in the Concord Park neighborhood. Pitman recruited Spanish speakers to volunteer to play earthquake victims at the drill. The enthusiasm of the Latino community at the drill led to the development of the Listos program for training Spanish speakers for emergency preparedness. To spotlight your Concord neighborhood in the April issue, please email editor@concordpioneer.com.
Where to go for LOCAL news For fast, on-the-spot coverage of the latest police action, traffic jams, emergency information and chat, social media and local blogs, like CLAYCORD.com are often good sources of breaking news. For more complete, in-depth coverage of local news, readers turn to their independently owned community newspapers. With news that people care about – local politics, schools, sports, events and stories about their friends and neighbors, the community newspaper is social media the old fashioned way. To find out what is happening in neighboring cities, check out these Contra Costa Community News Group newspapers Clayton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clayton Pioneer claytonpioneer.com Concord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Concord Pioneer concordpioneer.com Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Walnut Creek .Community Focus ourcommunityfocus.com Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga . . . . .Lamorinda Weekly lamorindaweekly.com San Ramon, Danville, and Alamo . . . . . .Valley Sentinel valleysentinel.com The Contra Costa Community Newspaper Group is a consortium of independent, locally owned newspapers with a combined circulation of more than 150,000. To advertise in all five papers with just one phone call, go to cccommunitynewsgroup.com or call 844.457.7665
Ad Rep Needed The Concord Pioneer is seeking an ADVERTISING SALES REP. This is a great opportunity with a growing newspaper serving the largest city in Contra Costa County. Our ad rep will excel at business to business, relationship sales and be passionate about helping businesses grow. Requires previous sales experience, preferably in media sales. Generous commissions.
Email brief of your qualifications to editor@concordpioneer.com.
Be a COMMUNITY AD REP for the Concord Pioneer. Help our paper grow. Refer a business that advertises with us and we’ll pay you 10% commission on the sale. No restrictions. Refer your own business and get the commission. Call the office, (925) 672-0500 or email editor@concordpioneer.com