Urban Village will be running the new farmers market located at the Lafayette BART Station in the south parking lot off Happy Valley Road. In addition to the location change, this one will be offered year-round which is great for those living nearby.
The latest fashion scuttlebutt I’ve learned is that the fashion boutique Sway is scouting locations in Walnut Creek. They started in Berkeley and now have 8 stores in California. Check out the interior of the Concord store:
Has anyone been to the Concord location? If so, what did you think of it?
I happened to check out Neiman Marcus in Walnut Creek yesterday when I noticed there is a pre-sale going on right now before the actual sale begins on May 31st. There were multiple racks of women’s shoes in the pre-sale as well so you might want to stop by before the sale begins next Thursday for the best selection.
From May 29th through May 31st you can also get triple inCircle bonus points on selected sale merchandise in Fine Apparel and Ladies’ Shoes.
Lamorinda Theater Academy, a new dance, singing and acting studio for children is opening in late June above Lamorinda Music in Lafayette, and I was able to check out the progress and find out more about the studio. The staircase entrance is to the left of Lamorinda Music.
Check out the dance studio where tap, jazz, creative and contemporary dance classes will be offered:
This is where the acting studio will be, although it’s being completely made over, with a new staircase added at back for safety reasons:
In addition to the dance and acting studio, there will be a smaller vocal studio for private singing lessons, yoga classes, as well as a large lobby for parents and kids. Parents will be able to look in both studios to see how the kids are doing, and there are also bathrooms and lockers available as well.
The owners Renee DeWeese and Rena Wilson seem very enthusiastic about the new academy and have quite an impressive resume so this looks very promising and I look forward to seeing how it turns out next month. They are accepting registrations for summer programs (1 camp is already sold out) . They are also offering free classes from June 25th – July 1st so you can try out a class to see how it is. The class schedule is here.
Considering the recent expansion of Lamorinda Music, it looks like this area will become an increasingly important part of the Lafayette art scene.
Lamorinda Music, located at 81 Lafayette Circle in Lafayette, is expanding in a big way, taking over the entire Lafayette Health Club space which closed earlier this month. In addition to four more studios, a classroom will be added, as well as a high-end guitar shop run by The Waybacks former guitarist and singer Stevie Coyle, who will also offer guitar lessons. Visiting musicians will occasionally perform as well, with refreshments from nearby The French Bakery. Sweet! The expansion should be completed sometime in July.
The guitar shop will be situated on the right side:
The new space is already being used for some classes:
This expansion is going to be great for the music community in Lafayette and I look forward to checking it out when it’s completed.
Loot Antiques, located at 3598 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette, next to Pizza Antica, is closing most likely by the end of June. They would like to relocate somewhere within Lafayette so stay tuned for their new location. In the meantime everything in the store is 30% off so drop by for some good deals.
Word on the street is that a cupcake chain will be moving in at some point but this has yet to be confirmed.
When the lease for the Soccer Post in Lafayette was up late last year word on the street is that in order to make room for a restaurant they moved down to 3400 Mt. Diablo Blvd. (near Hank and Frank Bicycles) in Lafayette. Turns out that restaurant was supposed to be a French brasserie headed by master chef Patrick Farjas, but that plan has been shelved, in part by comments he made dissing the Lafayette restaurant scene. I think that may deserve its own post…
Walnut Creek Magazine noted recently that the downtown Walnut Creek Safeway located across the street from Nordstrom is planning on tearing down the current building to be replaced with a much larger supermarket within the next 3 years. The new supermarket, (55,000 square feet) would be built over the current parking lot with cars being able to parking inside the building, below the shopping area (but not underground). The photo above shows the view from Mt. Diablo Blvd. and S. Broadway. Looks pretty sweet to me.
Please note that these are only the initial renderings, and will probably change over time. For example, the city is recommending access from Iron Horse Trail, removal of the landscape walls, and more landscaping to make it more pedestrian friendly.
This is the current Safeway supermarket:
There would be umbrella tables for eating:
Check out more photos after the jump
A few months ago I noted that the cosmetics store PureBeauty had closed in Broadway Plaza, and now the Italian fashion line Naracamicie will be taking its place, probably opening up next week. There’s already a store near Union Square. Take a look at the inside that’s getting set up.
From a Naracamicie press release:
Naracamicie is a fashion brand headquartered in Milan, Italy, and is quite familiar to Italians. The designers bring out 150 styles in 2 seasons a year, Highlights of the brand are its Made in Italy tag, and the range of dressy styles for women including classic button downs, silks, and longer styles with asymmetrical closures, both in white and luxurious colors. Men’s shirts are available in both slimfit and traditional cuts. All fabrics and design are Italian, yet carry a relatively modest $150 average price tag.
The designer fashion chain Betsey Johnson is being liquidated and all 69 stores will be shutdown, including the one in downtown Walnut Creek at 1198 Broadway Plaza across from Nordstrom. There are 20-40% markdowns now, but I imagine the discounts will increase over the next few weeks as they get rid of their current inventory.
This is a prime retail location with newly opened Neiman Marcus around the corner, and Nordstrom right across the street, so I’m curious what store will open in its place. What would you like to see there?