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THE NEW MEXICAN Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Santa Fe home sales, inventory down 16 percent
LOCAL BUSINESS
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arker Realty’s Santa Fe Real Estate Market News for May indicates that both closed residential home sales and the inventory of homes for sale are down from a year earlier. Barker reports that 145 homes sold in May, down 16 percent from the 174 in 2013, while inventory is 7 percent less than 2013 — with 1,281 properties now on the market. The average number of days on the market is now 175, the company said, a slight increase from a year ago. Bruce Nationwide, May saw a 5 percent Krasnow boost in sales, and the National Business Matters Association of Realtors attributes that to lower interest rates and more selection. “Homebuyers are benefiting from slower price growth due to the muchneeded, rising inventory levels seen since the beginning of the year,” Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement. uuu
Local merchant and silversmith John Rippel at his store inside La Fonda on the Plaza, 111 Old Santa Fe Trail. Rippel opened his first store in Santa Fe 45 years ago. PHOTOS BY JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN
Potpourri of treasures 45 years after opening his first store, John Rippel’s space maintains that ‘full-of-everything feeling’ By Bruce Krasnow The New Mexican
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visit to John Rippel’s store is like a trip to Grandpa’s attic or having a VIP seat at the PBS program Antiques Roadshow. The space, tucked inside La Fonda on the Plaza, showcases not only one-of-a-kind bolo ties and belt buckles fashioned by Rippel, a silversmith, but an assortment of merchandise, jewelry and collectibles that he sells for local as well as global artisans or individuals on consignment. There are flasks and cuff links, purses and sports memorabilia. There is an early 1900s pipe, a cast-iron, palm-size vintage truck and case, as well as a scale-model replica of a 1953 Cadillac Eldorado. “We keep debating what’s best,” said Rippel, 69, of his 1,200-square-foot space. “It has that full-of-everything feeling.” The south Texas native is among the many who sojourned to Santa Fe in the 1960s and decided to stay. With a degree in anthropology, he was drawn to the silver and turquoise collections that were putting Santa Fe on the map for Western and Native American art and apparel. That was 1968. He opened his first retail store some 45 years ago on Canyon Road, then Water Street, then Galisteo Street. Each move has brought him closer to the Plaza. He now sits at 111 Old Santa Fe Trail inside La Fonda on the Plaza. An example of how things have changed are the paper matchbooks that advertise his business and website, but inside are five match-
In brief
Bumble Bee’s on south side to close Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill has announced it will close its south-side location by the end of July. Owner Bob Weil said he and his wife, BJ, simply want to reduce their commitments. The downtown restaurant, 301 Jefferson St., will remain in business. “BJ and I want to simplify our lives and have more time to spend with our families,” Weil said. Weil said his lease on the south-side building ends Aug. 17, but the last day of restaurant service would be at the end of July. The south-side location at 3777 Cerrillos Road is for sale and is represented by Sam Goldberg & Associates in Santa Fe. The business has extensive leasehold improvements, including a fully equipped commercial kitchen, in a prime south-side location. Weil said the business is based on the idea of fresh, fast, healthful, gour-
Prull Custom Builders has been chosen for the revitalization work on the historic Manderfield School. The school opened in the late 1920s and closed in the 1970s, though various entities used it for education-related purposes until about six years ago. The 12,000-square-foot school is named after the late school board member Eugenia Manderfield and was designed by renowned architect John Gaw Meem. The building and 1.5-acre property were purchased by Clare Maraist from Santa Fe Public Schools. The new plans call for Manderfield, 1150 Canyon Road, to be repurposed as five residential live/work condominiums. The project was designed by architect Eric Enfield of Architectural Alliance. Each condo will have private access, private courtyards, covered parking and natural light that will radiate throughout the home. In addition to the restoration of the original structure, three detached residences will be built, each with private garages and outdoor spaces. The project even has its own website, www. manderfieldoncanyon.wordpress.com. uuu
Estately, a national real estate website, just published a map and article detailing what people in each state search for online more than any other state. For New Mexico, the phrases are: “Frito pie”; “Juggalos”; “Peyote”; and “UFO.” “Hopefully the UFOs are just here to abduct the Juggalos and they leave the Frito pie alone,” the company reports on its website. Still, the words put New Mexico in a better light than Georgia (“athlete’s foot” and “butt implants”). Here’s the link: http://blog.estately.com/2014/05/ you-can-learn-a-lot-about-america-from-each-statesinternet-search-history/ uuu
Rippel’s store features an assortment of merchandise, including one-of-a-kind bolo ties and belt buckles. JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN
John Rippel UsA
sticks not for lighting but for planting serrano chile pepper seeds. Where: 111 Old Rippel started makSanta Fe Trail, ing handbags and belts inside La Fonda 45 years ago but was on the Plaza drawn to silver. He When: Open 10 started taking in repairs, a.m. to 6 p.m. then learned to craft seven days a pieces by trial and error. week “Get books and tools; More information: 986-9115 or that’s how I learned,” he www.johnrippel. advises others. com He applies the same philosophy to running a business in Santa Fe: Get to know people, develop relationships and try different things. A walk around his store shows how he puts this into practice. He has a display of classic pens and writing instruments, as he
met Mexican food with convenient, casual service. The restaurant serves only natural and organic meats, with cage-free chicken from Sanderson Farms, beef from New Mexico Beef, and lamb raised and processed by the Talus Wind Ranch in Galisteo. There are no trans fats, and frying oils are recycled for biodiesel fuel, according to the restaurant’s website.
State loses jobs, but not as many The good news for New Mexico’s economy is that there is less bad news. The employment report for May shows the state lost 600 jobs or 0.01 percent in the preceding 12-month period — that is a smaller decline than previous months. Still, New Mexico and New Jersey were the only two states to record job losses during the period. In New Mexico, the 12-month period showed gains in the retail and financial services sector, as well as health care, mining and hospitality. But the growth was offset by losses in government jobs, construction, professional services and manufactur-
has always been drawn to fine penmanship. There is a collection of vintage silver and turquoise, as that is what first drew him to New Mexico. There are earrings from a Taos artist, a display case from a Northern California artist who works with fossilized ivory from Alaska; high-end jewelry from a designer in Oklahoma City whom he met at a gem show in Tucson, Ariz.; other pieces from designers and crafters in San Francisco and Paris; glassworks from Bob Hazeltine; as well as works from artists in Nashville, Tenn., and Bali. He also has Navajo jewelry and crafts as well as katsinas. Those, he said, fit into the category of home cooking. “They are things that I like personally, a product of here, a part of the culture.” Contact Bruce Krasnow at brucek@ sfnewmexican.com.
ing, which has lost jobs for 18 straight months, according to the state Department of Workforce Solutions. Santa Fe County notched a modest gain of 200 jobs during the 12-month period, with the largest increase coming in government, construction and health care, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Knitting store to move, expand Looking Glass Yarn & Gifts, a center for the fiber arts, is moving to a larger space in the Second Street Studios. Kay Quintana and her sister opened Looking Glass on Luisa Street in 2007, soon after Quintana retired as a teacher in the Los Alamos public schools. The shop is known among local knitters, spinners and crocheters for its wide selections of yarn, supplies and books, and as a place to get expert help on textile projects. “We specialize in customer service,” Quintana said in a news release. “We offer help with planning projects, knitting help, much more so than any place else.” The new space, next to Backroad
Section editor: Bruce Krasnow, 986-3034, bkrasnow@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Brian Barker, bbarker@sfnewmexican.com
And now for something completely different: the view that New Mexico’s economy is getting better. That assessment comes from Decision Analyst, a global marketing and analytics firm based in Arlington, Texas. The company sent out a news release with the headline: “Economy Gains in May; New Mexico Region Strengthening” that looks at data in the West-Central Mountain region, which includes New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. “Economic conditions in the New Mexico region are the second strongest in the country,” according to the firm’s index. All of the states in this region are part of the oil and gas boom, and other indications about New Mexico’s economy from the Department of Workforce Solutions and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics might suggest that the state is lagging its neighbors and only showing growth when grouped with its neighbors as a region. But Jack Flanders with Decision Analyst said in an email that the data they use is likely more forwardlooking than other sources. “We interview hundreds of households about the employment situation for the household’s adults, their personal finances, whether they have received pay raises, their general economic health and outlook for the future, etc. In New Mexico, we interviewed about 400 households scattered around the state and, again, balanced to create a sample truly representative of the state at large,” he said. To learn more about Decision Analyst, visit www. decisionanalyst.com/index.dai. Contact Bruce Krasnow at brucek@sfnewmexican.com.
Pizza and across from the Second Street Brewery, has about 2,000 square feet of space — twice as much as the old location. The two-level shop will have more room for yarn, supplies and books, a new emphasis on beading, and working displays of spinning wheels and knitting machines. But more importantly, it will mean room for more classes — drop-in and private sessions from some of Santa Fe’s master knitters. The Looking Glass will conduct a sale at its old location at 1210 Luisa St., No. 12, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and then will close its doors at the old site. The new store at 1807 Second St., No. 2, will open in about two weeks — probably July 10 or 11.
Family-owned business help The Parker Center for Family Business at The University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management presents “The Family Business Owner’s Manual” by Ernesto Poza at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Embassy
Suites in Albuquerque, 1000 Woodward Place NE. Poza is an internationally recognized speaker and consultant to family-controlled and family-owned businesses. The key components in creating a family business owner’s manual include: Stakeholder’s needs and communications; vision; mission and values, business operations and processes; and financial goals. Poza will discuss each of these components and give family owners the tools to establish their own business manual during his presentation. The cost of the presentation is $50 per person, and reservations can be made by calling James Parker at 848-1860. The Parker Center for Family Business was started in 2014 through the generosity and planning of Linda and Jim Parker. The center is part of Anderson School of Management’s Small Business Institute and will offer family business owners education, guidance and the opportunity to share their experiences with other familyowned businesses. For more information on the Parker Center for Family Business, visit www.nmfba.org. The New Mexican
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