The yarn shop Commuknity on The Alameda went out of business on Sunday. I didn’t shop there myself, but my girlfriend would go in a couple of times a year. She was glad to be able to get supplies for her hobby so close to downtown. The store itself was very upscale, and had about twice the floorspace of many of its competitors. A very ambitious venture, and one that seemed to be successful for a couple of years. But 2009 doesn’t seem to be the year for ambitious ventures.

Hopefully no more of our favorite near-downtown stores will be forced to close. I’ve been impressed with how San Jose’s small business owners have hung in there so far. There don’t really seem to be more shuttered businesses around than there are even in good times, but surely many small businesses are having a hard time. When you’re out shopping this year, please remember to shop local!

Just to get a guess at how bad the economy is doing, I stopped by Vally Fair Mall and hiked up to the top level of the parking garage. Two days before Christmas, in the middle of the afternoon, there was plenty of parking to be had. Inside, the mall was busy, but not packed. I’m not sure if this is bad news because it means the economy’s likely to remain in the dumps for a while, or if it’s good news because it means that Silicon Valley has rejoined the real world, where everybody doesn’t get whatever they want whenever they want it.

Photo by Bert van Dijk, http://flickr.com/photos/zilpho/

This Saturday, pick up some free coffee and save the environment at the same time.

The Phi Mu chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon will be coordinating a free e-waste recycle day as a fundraiser for the organization, SJSU’s music fraternity.

Green Mouse Recycling is making this happen at its Santa Clara headquarters, and here’s a list of things you can bring to the event:

• Computers/Laptops/Servers
• Televisions/Monitors
• DVD/CD Players
• Fax Machines/Printers
• Wire/Cabling/Printed Circuit Boards
• Aluminum/Scrap Metal/Plastic Products
• Microwave Ovens

Details:

Saturday, December 13th
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

292 Brokaw Road
Santa Clara, 95050

“We’d like to invite you to personally experience a ride aboard the Zeppelin at our upcoming Media Day at Moffett Field on Oct. 27.”

Monday morning I had an invitation to ride in the Zeppelin. I had cleared my calendar, but Mother Nature had forgotten to clear her sky. I worried would the weather be a factor and delay, or worse, cancel the event? As I approached Moffett Field and saw the big 246 foot long helium gas filled airship moored out near Hangar One, I felt confident that the ride would take place.

I made my way to the NASA building and signed in. I was issued a flight ticket and told to be ready for a 9 AM take off. On the airfield I talked shop with reporters from The Mercury News, KNTV – Ch. 11, and The New York Times, etc. Twelve of us were asked to gather for a safety briefing and instruction. Boarding is done with much care. The crew takes this very seriously. Once aboard the gondola I was allowed to take any seat that I wished. As the 62,500 pound mast truck made ready, we got settled and buckled in. The good-to-know about sign on my window? Life Vest Under Your Seat.

At 9:05 AM we were up! During the smoothly quiet ride we were allowed to walk around in the cabin, to take pictures, and talk with other passengers. I had to ask the question? “If we all move to one side will the ship start to roll?” I was assured that it would stay steady.

In spite of the fog, I enjoyed the fantastic bird’s-eye view down at Moffett Field – the three hangars, the NASA Ames wind tunnels, hi tech campuses, salt ponds, and 101. The cool little bathroom even comes with a window view!

Think of floating over the South Bay, San Francisco, the East Bay, or Sonoma on a clear day… Ah!

Airship Ventures

More photos on Flickr

1-650-969-8100

Yesterday, high winds tried to keep the zeppelin in Arizona. Today the 246-foot airship appeared in the sky over Blythe, California. At last look they set down in San Bernardino.

While in San Jose for the Steampunk Convention, Abney Park (”The Airship Pirates”) will go up in the airship. Tickets for the ride are Sold Out, but tickets for the Steampunk Convention seem available.

No, not one as heavy as led, but the one lighter-than-air.

Brian and Alexandra Hall of Los Gatos may be the owners of the Airship Ventures Zeppelin, but it is something that we in the South Bay can all be proud of.

Weather permitting the airship should appear in our sky on October 25th.

I’ll let you know all about it after my ride on the 27th. Look for me waving down to you sometime after 9 in the morning!

The Story

Up Ship – The blog

Track the Ship

If you see the airship let them know about it here. Grab your camera.

Reservations – Gift Cards etc.

That is no new news, Mervyns LLC,  headquartered in Hayward, CA declared Bankruptcy in August this year. Shoppers like myself saw it coming months ago, we were always piling in for the giant sales and empty aisles. 

This is sad indeed, Mervyns has been a huge staple in my shopping history.  I grew up in San Mateo, and going to the Mervyns inside Hillsdale Mall was the place to go.  Mervyns and Sears were the biggies to Middle Class shoppers, and rightly so, they have everything. With good quality clothes,  tools and home appliances, all at reasonable prices, it was hard to shop anywhere else.  All my holiday, birthday and occasional gifts for women came from Mervyns, then going to Sears for the men in my life, it made sense. It still does,  but thats my style.  Imagine, when I moved here to San Jose, how excited I was to see a Mervyns only 1 mile from my home. Waking distance! 

We all know that some of the Mervyns stores in the East Bay are having liquidation sales, but I also heard a rumor that my beloved store at 950 W Hamilton Ave, Campbell, CA 95008 will be shutting it doors sooner than anticipated. At one time I heard it was due to shut down in January 2009.  Personally I don’t know which is true, now, or 2009, I can’t find anything confirming the date, and I was unable to talk with a  manager this weekend.  Shoot.  I’ll keep you up to date, I’ll be shopping there until they bolt the door for good.   Currently, they are having a Store Wide sale, 40%, 50% and 60% off most merchandise in every department.  With the American Economy in trouble and people having to tighten their Holiday budgets,  now is the time for a bargain. Go on over, and have a look, I’m very sure you will find something for everyone.

This morning I stopped by my local Safeway to pick up a container of raspberries. Near the front of the store I noticed a display for a free DVD. All I would have to do was to buy $40 in home care products in a single transaction then Iron Man would be mine. They were specific products like Bounty paper towels, Duracell, Kleenex Reynolds foil and others. Pushing the cart down each aisle I saw that the products for the promotion had special price tags indicating that they were participating items. I carefully selected the products worth $40, and then some, the raspberries, other groceries, and the DVD.

The man at the checkout told me that my plastic bags of stuff did not qualify for a free movie. Why not? I had followed all of the rules and surely I had well over the specified $40. He could only direct me to the customer service desk.

Resolving the problem with Tiffany, at the desk, should have been easy. She asked me which of the items would get me the movie. Shouldn’t she have known this? I told her that it would be all that was non-eatable. Using an oh-so bothered tone of voice she asked me to follow her back to a checkout.

Picking off of master list, she would call out the products not found on it. This is where it got ugly. When I told her that she was wrong because I had noted the special price tag for each item purchased, she said that she would attempt to explain it to me. Attempt!!! I let Tiffany know that I did not appreciate her inferring that I was too stupid to shop at Safeway. I followed with, “I might be better off getting a refund”. She was all ready for that, but I wasn’t about to let her win the war! I stood my ground until she marched off to the manager’s office. She returned asking a co-worker to put the stuff back into the cart, for she was letting me have it all. I asked if that meant that the things I bought were actually correct. Not admitting to the mistake she said that she had customers waiting, mumbling something about getting me out of the store. I wasn’t a customer? She obviously found out that some of the products had not been entered into the store computer correctly. No apology for me, and I had to remind her that she still owed me the almost $20 for the so-called free DVD.

File under: Customer Service From Hell.

From the group's July 13 performance at the San Jose Obon Festival.

.

Hi everyone!

I’m Sarah, a new author for the San Jose Metblog. I’m very excited to contribute and to start off, I’d like to tell you a bit about myself (it’ll be short – I promise!)

- Journalism was my first love. I studied Journalism at SJSU, graduated with a degree in the fabulous subject in 2005, worked for local weekly newspapers for two years, then decided to leave the business. Not because I didn’t love reporting, but because I figured I should get out while I still had the choice. Anyone who’d like to have a conversation about the current state of Journalism in the Bay Area is absolutely welcome to leave a comment and let me know. :)

- I’m currently back at SJSU in the teaching credential program to be a high school English teacher. Yes, I left a poverty-inducing career where getting laid off is a possibility, to enter another poverty-inducing career that is also in danger financially. But what isn’t these days?

- And last, I love photography. I take photos around San Jose all the time, so I’m making it a mission to bring photos to each of my entries, starting with this one!

OK, enough about me. What I really want to tell you all about is the Spirit of Japantown Festival that is planned for next Saturday, Oct. 4. As a Japantown resident, I love telling people how much I love it here and how they should come by and check out some of the delicious food. Sushi Maru is my personal favorite, but Japantown has lots to offer.

The Spirit of Japantown Festival will go from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the heart of Japantown (Jackson and Fifth streets) and will be packed with activities for people of all ages. Shoppers will enjoy the Main Street full of Japanese fine arts, crafts, food for sale, as well as wares from other local merchants. Festival-goers will be able to enjoy entertainment that ranges from a hula to bellydancing on the Main Stage (Jackson Street between Third and Fourth streets), as well as Martial Arts demonstrations, free Anime movies, and other activities for kids. The San Jose Taiko group is scheduled to perform on the Main Stage, and I have to say they are a must-see. I’ve watched the group perform at the last two San Jose Obon Festivals and they are phenomenal.

While there is usually plenty of street parking in the area, during festivals, the streets fill up fast. However, those who are lightrail savvy will be interested to know that the Japantown/Ayer stop is just a few blocks away from the action. The stop is on First street near Jackson, so just a quick walk and riders can be in the heart of the action.

So if you’re interested, I’m sending you a personal invitation to my neighborhood to enjoy all it has to offer. See you at the festival!

For more information about the Spirit of Japantown Festival, visit their website.

The downtown La Boulanger bakery and coffee shop has closed.

Just a couple of weeks after I wrote about the opening of Caffe Trieste, and the overall improvement in the availability of good coffee in downtown San Jose, two of the local coffee outlets seem to have closed. The first one I noticed was La Boulanger on Market St., near San Fernando. La Boulanger’s coffee wasn’t quite to the level of Peet’s or Trieste’s, but if you wanted a pastry or sandwich with your coffee, La Boulanger wasn’t a bad choice.

eMocha cafe is another casualty among downtown coffee shops.

Second, just today I saw a sign in the window of eMocha cafe, or maybe it was called Backdoor Espresso (they couldn’t seem to make that clear), indicating they’re “closed for now.” Hopefully that means they’re just cleaning up the decor, or rejigging the financing, and they’ll be back soon. For coffee made with obsessive attention to detail, eMocha, or maybe “Backdoor Espresso”, was the place downtown for a couple of months anyway.

On the positive side, I recently tried the relatively new Crema cafe on the Alameda, just a few blocks from downtown. The coffee was good, and the place is huge, with lots of indoor and outdoor tables. Stop in some time and check it out.