Free movies under the stars
Hydrofoiling in action Recreation takes flight at Leadbetter Beach - A6
Our 165th Year
For the first time, UCSB’s summer series will be at Goleta drive-in - B1
$2.00
SU N DAY, J U ly 12 , 2 0 2 0
‘I can’t continue doing this’ ‘Jaw-dropping numbers’
Edith Caldwell ready to let go of shop due to pandemic, two other State Street businesses to close
Housing market booming on Central Coast By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
One of the most surprising things during the pandemic has been happening just over the last few weeks. While businesses all over are trying everything they can to remain in operation, the housing market, especially on the Central Coast, has been seeing a boom since mid-June and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. “Yes, it’s completely shocking,” Renee Grubb, owner of the Montecito-based real estate
firm Village Properties, told the News-Press over the phone. “We are seeing jaw-dropping numbers and showings and they really started spiking in June.” According to statistics provided by Ms. Grubb, pending sales are up 45% from last year for Village Properties for the month of June and the median sales are expected to go up as well as houses continue to sell. In specific neighborhoods for the month of June, all the houses in Montecito that would have taken an average of nine months to sell are now all being sold in Please see HOUSING on A3
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Edith Caldwell abode is among the State Street businesses closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COURTESY PHOTOs
By JORGE MERCADO
The West Beach Inn, located at 306 W. Cabrillo Blvd., has remained open through the pandemic due to rigorous cleaning protocols.
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Edith “Edie” Caldwell has been in the retail business since she was 18. By the age of 24, she had already opened her first shop and in the coming years would travel the world, meet artists and collect objects, all while opening shops and selling things. But even she has never experienced anything quite like what is happening to businesses all across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I have never been forced to close down. The times and what is going on is closing us down because everything about it, everything that enables me to do this job, has stopped so I can’t continue doing this,” Ms. Caldwell said. Ms. Caldwell opened up Edith Caldwell abode, located on 8 E. De La Guerra St., in November 2019 with the intention of selling unique looking items to those who wandered into her store. But, due to the current pandemic, Edith Caldwell is one of three shops that are closing their doors. Ms. Caldwell’s shop contains a litany of art pieces that are for sale, all painted by artists she represents and work done by her friends. Still, it wasn’t easy getting her shop off the ground. With constant construction on East De La Guerra Street, Ms. Caldwell had to shift her hours to try to sell when construction was down. And, right before the pandemic hit the U.S., Ms. Caldwell recalled the shop was finally hitting its stride. “I was making some big sales and it was great,” Ms. Caldwell
‘Reinvesting in their employees’ West Beach Inn completes bathroom renovation By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Some things are worth the wait, and that includes West Beach Inn’s most recent renovation project. A project five months in the making, the Santa Barbara hotel, located at 306 W. Cabrillo Blvd., completed a renovation project to all 46 of its bathrooms. The total cost of the project was
The Apple store on State Street has also closed its doors due to the pandemic.
recalled. Unfortunately for her and all the businesses up and down the county, COVID-19 forced the closure of many businesses for months. From there, it was hard to recover and for Ms. Caldwell, it was particularly difficult. The businesses main draw is the unique objects Ms. Caldwell is able to find, whether at
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nearly $1 million. “It’s so exciting to welcome back our locals and people that are coming and visiting Santa Barbara to something so new and exciting and something that looks very nice,” Doug Rigoni, president of Coast Hotels USA which operates West Beach Inn and helped oversee the renovation, told the News-Press over the phone. Please see RENOVATION on A7
flea markets, on Craigslist, or anywhere else she can acquire and then sell to the people of Santa Barbara. “My source of inventory has been cut off. I won’t be able to find anything that cool or anything comparable right now because the sources have stopped,” Ms. Caldwell said. And, even as it’s open currently, Ms. Caldwell said the continual
closure of the movie theater has also hurt business. “There really are a lot of little reasons adding up is why I have to close. One of the reasons is the fact the movie theaters are closed. I used to get a lot of people, say from Montecito, come down to Santa Barbara because there is no movie theater, then come into my shop but they don’t come anymore Please see closing on A2
The renovation project cost nearly $1 million dollars and took almost five months to complete.
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