Frozen Assets
Alotta Gelato spoons up an anniversary. Plus: New garden center and gallery, Ridgewood Motors and others on the move, a Hub update, for-sale signs and more news.
Spotlight on. . .
Alotta Gelato, a downtown Silver City destination for dessert and relaxation, comes to a sweet milestone in August: its third anniversary. And Mitch Hellman, who co-owns the shop with his wife Starr Belsky, says the business is doing well.
"We've survived," Hellman says with a laugh and wipe of his brow. "Actually, we've been profitable from Day One."
Foot traffic is good at the Bullard Street location and though Hellman says he meets a lot of tourists passing through, much of his business is from repeat customers, those who are addicted to the taste of gelato and a fun place to cool their heels.
"The vast majority of people who pass through here buy something, and they walk out not only satisfied, but actually happy," Hellman says.
Asked "Why gelato?" Hellman says his decision to open an Italian ice cream store hinged on a number of things. "Starr and I have always enjoyed it in Europe, where it is very popular," he says, "and we found a company dealing with the best-quality mixes (for making gelato) and they offered training on how to make it, and it was not a franchise."
Alotta Gelato makes its product on the premises. Hellman explains he uses two basic mixes, one for the fruit flavors and one for cream flavors--such as "Romeo and Juliet," a vanilla and chocolate combo flavor garnished with dark chocolate syrup. The fruit gelato flavors include one-and-a-half pounds of fresh fruit; fresh milk and cream are added to the cream flavor base mixes. There are 18 flavors in the main freezer case, from which he hand-dips servings, and additional flavors in a side freezer, pre-packed for grab-n-go ease. Servings come in three basic sizes and there is also a child's portion, also available for those with smaller appetites. And there are pint and quart insulated foam containers for parties.
Alotta Gelato also offers an assortment of other freshly made desserts, from Bad-Ass Bakery and neighboring restaurant Shevek & Mi. It serves a substantial selection of Tazo brand teas and coffee, made with a special European brewing method known as a Toddy Coffee.
Hip Putumayo world-beat music (for sale in the rack at the counter) plays in the background. An array of board games for kids of all ages invites gelato eaters to sit a spell.
Hellman admits labor-pool difficulties have reared their head, making it hard for him to take much vacation time over the past three years. "I heard from other business owners that it could be an issue," he says.
Still, Hellman says downtown is where he wants to be. "When I was a kid, I had to live where my family lived. Then I had to live where I went to school and where I had a job. This time, I live where I want to live," he says, "and downtown is Silver City."
An admitted people-person, Hellman has thrown himself into the community since landing in Silver City just over three years ago. He says he already feels like a neighborhood anchor with his store, and loves the daily exchange of news and jokes with his regular customers and neighboring merchants.
He makes the store available for groups to hold meetings of all sorts, from the Silver City Bead Society to a group that plays the card game Magic. Do participants have to buy gelato when they meet at the store?
"It's not a requirement," Hellman says, then adds with a smile, "but it is sort of irresistible."
In addition to supporting the community in various ways--Alotta Gelato is a steady supporter of the Mimbres Region Arts Council and other non-profit organizations--Hellman says he thinks of the store as the town's "unofficial visitor's center."
"We're open seven days and seven nights per week. I make a lot of visitor's information available," he says, gesturing to the racks of brochures and local publications. "The welcome mat is out."
Another Milestone
Bob Brockhausen says his Silver City Brewing Company is already gearing up for its second anniversary, planning for an all-out daylong street bash on Sept. 2. The festivities will start about noon and include a pig roast and Hot Rod Car Show, as well as live music by the Night Owls and Tres Hombres, a configuration of some of the brothers from the group, the Levee Breakers. Unable to get a pig for last year's celebratory roast, and making do with barbeque ribs and smoked pork butts, Brockhausen's prepared this year: "I've already got my pig nailed down," he says.
All She Wrote
Word on the street is that Trails West, a New Mexico tourism magazine owned and operated by E. Troy Tudor of Wild Horse Publishing, has ridden off into the sunset, making its 24-page premier May/June issue the Radium Springs-based company's first and last. Local and toll-free numbers for the business have been disconnected. While its Web site is still up, an email inquiry received only information on Controlled Marketing Concepts, a company that has taken over the racks housing the magazine. For Trails West's inaugural issue, Tudor replaced distribution racks for other publications—including Desert Exposure, The Ink and The Bulletin—with his own at locations such as Hasting's bookstore in Las Cruces. He then sought to charge the publications for "rack space" there and at Pic Quick stores.
New to Town
Things are in full bloom already at Dunn Nursery & Garden Center, which opened on Pinos Altos Road in Silver City at the end of July. Owners Rick and Kristi Dunn moved to the area from Mesa, Ariz., in December 2005 and say their business will focus on plants that do well in the high desert. The store carries a full line of gardening products--tools, fertilizers, gardening gloves and clogs--as well as durable outdoor patio furnishings, decorative planters and gift items. Plants range from everyday coleus and coreopsis to exotic bamboos and chocolate mimosa trees. Kristi Dunn says she hopes the newly stocked water-garden and pond supplies will generate a lot of interest and excitement.
And Tatiana Maria, calling itself "A Gallery of Furnishings," had a soft opening during the Fiesta de la Olla Mexican arts and pottery event last month, with a full-fledged official opening planned for the fall, according to gallery owner Tatiana Kurakin. She is moving her gallery of 13 years from the Santa Ynez Valley in California to Bullard Street in downtown Silver City. The store/gallery sells imported hand-woven rugs and blankets and hand-crafted home furnishings, pottery from the Mexican village of Mata Ortiz, as well as northern native American pueblos, and shows artworks by local artist Barbara Nance and more. Hand-loomed textiles and jewelry will play a major role in the store going forward, and hand-carved fetishes and Native American folk art pieces also will be offered, Kurakin says.
On the Move. . .
Ridgewood Motors will be moving its downtown showroom on Pope Street in Silver City to a location currently under construction on Hwy. 180, near Caballero's restaurant. Owner George Rico says the move has nothing to do with the Pope Street construction project, which the company has weathered just fine, but to have more space in a high-traffic location. The eight-acre site will provide more room for lot and showroom. Ridgewood also has a used-car lot on Hwy. 180, next to Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber. Rico says the timing of the move depends on the construction project.
A graphic arts business is moving into the space vacated by Tejas Barbeque on Market Street. Tejas' owners Brian Meyer and Sherri Turner abruptly pulled up stakes for Texas last fall, leaving in a cloud of hickory smoke and bad debts.
High Desert Spas has moved from its Pope Street location to the intersection of Hwy. 180 and 152, on the Arenas Valley-Santa Clara border. Owner Flossie Morris says the move gives her business better traffic exposure, and cuts down on the business' overhead, combining office space with her husband, chiropractor Dwayne Morris. Southwest Shade moved into the spa business' vacated spot at 1004 N. Pope. The new location provides the shade company with an advantageous division of space, according to a spokesperson.
St. Clair Winery, the state's largest winery, is replacing its Blue Teal tasting room on Avenida de Mesilla in Las Cruces with the St. Clair Winery & Bistro. The new location will feature a full menu of gourmet meals and a wide range of award-winning New Mexico wines. Operations manager Rick Sharp says the new tasting room/restaurant, at 1800 Avenida de Mesilla, just south of the present Blue Teal location--in the former Meridian restaurant (originally the Brass Cactus)--should be open by the end of September. The St. Clair Vineyards are owned and operated by the Lescombes family, with vineyards located in the high deserts of Southern New Mexico. For more information, call 524-8118.
Updates
Work continues full-bore at Janey Katz' The Hub, a multi-business development on Bullard Street in Silver City. Peace Meal, an employee-owned restaurant offering healthy fare, plans to be open by mid-August, Katz confirms. Adobe brown concrete has been poured for one of the two patios, and arrangements are being made for local sculptor Barry Namm to install one of his "Family of Man" works at the location's central fountain. "I envision it as a town square," Katz says of the developing courtyard. Diane's Deli, the Brisket Bistro and a tortilla factory are all slated for the complex. Java the Hut Espresso and Coffee Shop will continue at its location in the developing complex, confirms both Katz and Java owner Marcia Carlson.
Dru Ruebush confirms that the Colby Building on Bullard Street is nearing the end of its renovation and will be up for sale by the beginning of August. The doorway between it and the theater planned for the El Sol community theater project is no longer there, so the buildings are separate entities now. The Colby is suited for any and all commercial uses, Ruebush says, including gallery, restaurant or bar. Ruebush still has development plans for the El Sol theater space, on hold at the moment.
David Mulvenna's Desert Rose restaurant hit a stove-hood snag that delayed its projected opening. Mulvenna hopes he will open soon, now that he has found installers for the needed piece of equipment. And hopefully Bruce Helmig's much-anticipated Isaac's Bar & Grill will not be far behind, now that issues with the emergency sprinkler system have been tackled.
The Silco Theater, the multi-use facility currently being renovated by Silver City MainStreet Project has had its premier as an event venue. The Mimbres Region Arts Council held its Fiesta de la Olla at the theater, formerly owned and occupied by Repeat Boutique. MainStreet Project manager Frank Milan says the building will be used during the early-September Taste of Downtown, and for a jazz concert in October during the Weekend at the Galleries. Also, Milan says, the downtown streetlight project is in its final phase, with the last of the acorn-style fixtures receiving their final touches.
On the Market
A number of local businesses have gone up for sale recently. Jacqueline Shaw has her Bayard-based A.I.R. Coffee Roasting business up for sale for $22,000. The commercially zoned building in which the roastery is housed is listed separately with Hacienda Realty. Co-owner Moose White confirms that Lusk Flowers & Gifts, one of Silver City's oldest businesses, also is for sale. White would not name the price, which he says is negotiable. Prudential Silver City Realty has listed Cienega Spa & Salon for sale at $1,500,000 and the Twisted Vine for $549,900. Both are business and property package deals. Robert Parra, owner of Caballeros Restaurant on Hwy. 180 in Arenas Valley, confirms that he will be listing for sale the restaurant he has owned since March 2005. Caballeros will be available as a business-only purchase for an as yet undetermined price or as a package with the building for around $1 million.
And following the death of her husband, Elon Yurwit, earlier this year, Faywood Hot Springs owner Wanda Fuselier has put the business and property up for sale privately. According to a brochure Fuselier has had printed, the Hot Springs Resort business and 160 acres of property, including exclusive rights to the name and Web site, are for sale at $5,570,000. Additionally, 1,120 acres of land, including a three-bedroom ranch house, barns and outbuildings, may be purchased for $1,270,000. Vehicles, machinery, tools, equipment, building materials for future projects, antiquities and gift shop inventory are currently being assessed and will be available for sale. The brochure can be viewed at www.faywood.com. Fuselier is giving tours of the property, and is available for inquiries at 536-9663.
Many Moons furniture and gifts will soon close its doors, and the historic schoolhouse in which it is housed is on the market. The owners hope to sell-down inventory prior to sale of the building. And Holly Sytch confirms that she will be closing her downtown Silver City women's clothing store, A La Mode, and has listed the building for sale with Smith Realty.
Business Exposure is a monthly column that focuses on local business from all angles. Each issue spotlights a featured Southwest New Mexico business, and updates ongoing business items of interest. Feel free to suggest business topics for the column, and let us know about your own business' changes and newsworthy events; send to donna@desertexposure.com.
