After 16 years on Lincoln Avenue, owner Carole Demkowski is closing the Three Sisters boutique in Willow Glen at the end of this month after her rent more than doubled.
“Everbody is demoralized,” Demkowski said of her regular customers’ reaction to the news. “It seems like all the little mom-and-pop shops are closing one by one.”
In the narrow space near Minnesota Avenue that was once an alleyway, shoppers could peruse an eclectic collection of chandeliers, lamps, jewelry, decanters and glassware. Not to mention the popular Willow Glen Honey, produced by her beekeeper husband, Steve Demkowski.
Willow Glen Honey sits on a shelf along with other items at Three Sisters boutique on Lincoln Avenue in San Jose, which is closing its doors on July 31, 2024, after 16 years. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Three Sisters’ last day of business in Willow Glen is July 31, but Demkowski said this weekend would be the real last hurrah for customers looking to get items on sale. She’ll start packing things away starting Monday in preparation for moving out.
But Demkowski also has a comeback plan. She’ll have a space to sell her items at Montebello Road, the antiques emporium on Bascom Avenue in Campbell, as soon the first weekend in September. And she’s also planning some pop-up events in Willow Glen around the holiday season, when shoppers are seeking out gifts.
Part of the issue, she concedes, is a trend for brick-and-mortar retail outlets overall. Online shopping takes a bite out of business, but the younger generation in the valley — who may not have as much space as their parents — have a different sensibility when it comes to spending their disposable income.
“They don’t want material things. They want experiences,” she said. Lincoln Avenue’s revitalization over the past two decades has definitely brought in new eateries and retail options, with mainstays like Hicklebee’s, the Thrift Box, Willow Glen Collective and Bertucelli’s La Villa still holding onto the old-school charm.
SMASHING DEBUT: Jim Angelopolous couldn’t believe how many people showed up Friday for a free burger and fries at Campus Burgers, the new eatery in downtown San Jose opened by the owner of popular breakfast spot, Scrambl’z. People started lining up on Paseo de San Antonio more than an hour before Campus Burgers opened, and Angelopolous said he hoped his kitchen staff could handle the wave. “I never expected anything like this,” he said.
Campus Burgers owner Jim Angelopolous, left, poses with San Jose City Councilmember Omar Torres on July 26, 2024, the opening day of the eatery on Paseo de San Antonio in downtown San Jose. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose City Councilmember Omar Torres stopped by to congratulate the owners — and pick up an early lunch — and credited the huge response to the San Jose Foos social media account. Torres said he expects Campus Burgers to do good business, especially when nearby San Jose State starts classes in August. By the way, the regular price for one of Campus Burgers’ standard 2-ounce “smashburgers” is $1.99 — not free, but still a great deal these days — with higher prices for cheese, extra patties and french fries.
PARTY CALENDAR: It looks like Sunday, Aug. 18 is going to be a great day in Saratoga for a couple of great causes. Cancer CAREpoint has already sold out its annual Garden Party fundraiser at the Montalvo Arts Center that evening, with a dinner catered by Le Papillion.
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But if you missed out on that one, you can support the students at San Jose’s Sacred Heart Nativity Schools at the Ladies of Charity BBQ fundraiser at the Redwood Grove of Saratoga Springs that same evening. Tickets are $125 each and include homemade appetizers, a buffet dinner, dessert and hosted wine and beer, with proceeds benefitting Sacred Heart Nativity School for boys and Our Lady of Grace School for girls. More details are available at www.ladiesofcharitysanjose.org.
JAZZ CATS: The Jazz on the Plazz concert series continues to fill Los Gatos Town Plaza with tunes every Wednesday, with the great Nicolas Bearde along with the Full Spectrum Jazz Band on July 31. There has been a change in the series’ upcoming schedule, though, with Ricardo Lemvo canceling his Aug. 14 appearance because of a scheduling conflict. Salsa group Bembé is appearing instead.
And Los Gatos Music and Arts has announced that sensational multiinstrumentalist Gunhild Carling — who played the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest a few years ago — will perform at this year’s gala on Sept. 22 at the Hotel Los Gatos. Tickets to the swanky affair, with bites and drinks provided by Dio Deka, are $225 each. You can get all the details — and the rest of the Jazz on the Plazz schedule — at www.jazzontheplazz.com.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Some readers probably did double-takes when they saw a New York Times election story that quoted San Jose resident Anna Ayala — a Democrat who said she’s going to be voting for Donald Trump this fall. If that name rings a bell, that’s because Ayala was the woman at the center of a fraudulent lawsuit back in 2005 in which she falsely claimed to have found a human finger in a bowl of fast-food chili.
Ayala served four years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted grand larceny, and the New York Times later removed Ayala’s quote from the story after finding out about her past. I doubt the Trump campaign will be rushing to put her in any ads, either.