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Business & Tech

Spotmojo Update: Bakery, Organic Grocery, Bagels, and more

Here's an update on the suggestions users have submitted on Spotmojo

This week I’d like to give an update on all the suggestions we’ve collected so far in El Cerrito.  I’ve been writing these articles for El Cerrito Patch since February and the participation has been very good.

However, for El Cerrito we haven’t reached a valid sample yet so we haven’t started our outreach  We need about another 250 users in El Cerrito to make some of these suggestions convincing for businesses and commercial brokers. However, in the city of Alameda we’re very close to a valid sample size so we have begun our outreach there.

So far, the top suggestions in El Cerrito are:

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  • Bakery
  • Organic Grocery Store, Berkeley Bowl
  • Bagels
  • Gym (24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s, etc...)
  • Burgers
  • Coffee Shop
  • Stationery Store

Bakery

For bakery, users have suggested a French bakery, something like La Farines, Panera, Arizmendi, and some just said any decent bakery.

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Organic Grocery Store

The two stores that were called out where Berkeley Bowl and Whole Foods Market. I’m not sure this quite covers it, but Natural Grocery in El Cerrito is expanding to the former paint store next door. The new wing will be a cafe with prepared foods. I’m assuming what people are most interested in Berkeley Bowl is their vast selection of produce. I haven’t visited Natural Grocery, so I’m not sure if the new expanded Natural Grocery will fill this need.

Bagels

Some of you suggested Noah’s Bagels or Breuger’s Bagels and some just suggested any bagel shop.

Gym

A fitness gym was a pretty popular suggestion. 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s, Planet Fitness and Club One were mentioned. Planet Fitness recently opened a new gym at the old Safeway in Richmond, at the corner of San Pablo Avenue and McDonald Avenue. I also haven’t visited Planet Fitness, but I heard it's really cheap at $10 per month!

Burgers

The next popular suggestion was another burger place. Five Guys and Dairy Queen were specifically called out.

Coffee Shop

The coffee shop suggestions were mostly for the property at 10810 San Pablo (next to Sylvan Learning Center) and at the Bank of West Plaza. The real estate broker that’s managing the 10810 San Pablo listing also thinks a coffee shop would be nice there and has been looking for one. However, it has been difficult to attract one to that location.  

The problem is there are no anchor tenants there, and although there is a lot of car traffic in that area, without an anchor tenant the cars have little reason to stop. Another idea is to serve the residents within walking distance, for example those living in the apartments above or the homes behind it. But so far we haven’t had enough suggestions for a coffee shop on Spotmojo for the broker to use.

Cards & Stationary

Finally, another popular suggestion was for some type of greeting cards and stationery store.  

Spread the Word

If you really would like to see some of these ideas become a reality, spread the word among your neighbors, friends and family that live in or near El Cerrito.

You can use this links that will bring you to various open spots in El Cerrito:
El Cerrito Plaza:  http://www.spotmojo.com/openspot/ecplaza/
The Village at Town Center:  http://www.spotmojo.com/openspot/villagetc/
Bank of West Plaza:  http://www.spotmojo.com/openspot/bankofwest/
Safeway Center (New Safeway):  http://www.spotmojo.com/openspot/safewayctr/

El Cerrito Patch is working with Spotmojo to collect your suggestions for vacancies.  Spotmojo is a website where you can suggest the businesses you want where you live, work, or play. The suggestions are provided to new businesses and commercial real estate brokers to help new businesses find their ideal location. This gives you a voice in the businesses that open in your neighborhood and it helps local businesses succeed.

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