As part of a year-long effort to rein in San Jose’s problem with abandoned shopping carts, the city has been reviewing proposals to hire a company to retrieve and return carts to grocery stores. A three-month pilot program shows such a retrieval service could easily recoup its costs through fees charged to grocers. However, the hundreds of...
San Jose cracks down on Vietnam Town mismanagement
San Jose officials have long known about mismanagement concerns surrounding Little Saigon’s signature commercial center. But now they’re taking action this week after San José Spotlight’s reporting and a lawsuit by merchants showed the extent of Vietnam Town’s neglect. The city’s Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department has ordered Vietnam Town management to remove barricades...
San Jose Vietnamese shops sue over alleged mismanagement
At San Jose’s Vietnam Town, struggling merchants find it hard to recognize their signature commercial center. Instead, they see a plaza that chases out visitors. It’s eerily quiet during the day. The ramps of Vietnam Town’s main parking garage have been cordoned off with dumpsters, choking out parking options for would-be customers. Security is towing...
Los Gatos cafe reopens after Thanksgiving crash
Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company is partially back in business following a devastating car crash on Thanksgiving that will keep half of the town’s beloved shop closed for at least several months. Longtime customers and residents have rallied around founder and co-owner Teri Hope, raising more than $51,000 through GoFundMe to help support the shop’s...
Santa Clara high-rise housing project would displace businesses
Affordable high-rise housing is closer to sprouting along El Camino Real in Santa Clara, but it would displace numerous local businesses. Pennsylvania-based developer Toll Brothers wants to replace more than a dozen stores in Santa Clara’s longstanding Moonlite Shopping Center with 601 homes at 2610 El Camino Real. The development proposal includes a trio of...
Fed food cuts spur San Jose eatery to offer free meals
Bay Area restaurants are stepping up to provide meals to families affected by the ongoing federal government shutdown and the looming loss of food stamps. Tony & Alba’s Pizza & Pasta in San Jose is offering free meals to children and a 25% discount to parents until the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is funded....
San Jose homeless motel parking overflow could close eatery
San Jose’s zealous efforts to move homeless people out of Columbus Park and into motels over the summer has inadvertently impacted one business owner who might have to close. Bernadette Garcia, owner of a longstanding Mexican restaurant, Los Garcias, said the city never informed her of its plans to convert the neighboring Alura Inn into...
San Jose sees a record number of new food businesses
Silicon Valley’s largest city is bouncing back from the slog of the pandemic, with a record number of food businesses opening in the last three years. San Jose has issued 933 business tax certificates to restaurants, street food vendors, cafes and bakeries since 2022, thanks in part to the city’s improved permitting process. District 3 —...
Vandalism in downtown Willow Glen on the rise
Willow Glen is known for its quaint charm and affluent San Jose neighborhoods, but a surge in crime is making local businesses uneasy. Downtown Willow Glen, a small strip of shops along Lincoln Avenue, has experienced about 30 reports of vandalism and theft since June, according to San Jose Police Department data. Some of those...
Starbucks closes San Jose stores as competitor moves in
As one coffee giant shutters multiple locations in San Jose, another company is moving in. Four Starbucks locations in San Jose have closed, following the company announcing it would shutter 1% of its stores across North America. Two other locations in Mountain View and one each in Cupertino, Santa Clara and Milpitas have also closed. The...