Moving&shaking

Peet’s plans

Work is underway at Peet’s Coffee & Tea, which has claimed the space formerly occupied by Confetti Party Headquarters.

Peet’s refers all media inquiries to a San Francisco public-relations firm, which didn’t call back by press time. But a quick peek at the Peet’s Web site showed it perkily announcing that the shop is scheduled to open this fall. They’re taking applications for an assistant manager, retail sales and barista positions, and shift leaders.

The company, which was founded in Berkeley in 1966, has coffee shops in California, Portland, Ore., Seattle, Boston and Chicago. They roast the coffee at a plant in Emeryville.

The Galley, a kitchen supply and gift store on Country Drive (off Park Avenue) in Chico, already sells Peet’s coffee beans, whole or fresh-ground. Manager Janine Ross said it’s a big seller. They get new beans in twice a week, and it’s the freshness and roasting process that sets Peet’s apart from, say, Starbucks, Ross said. “It’s the best you can get,” she said. “Once you drink it you don’t want to go back.”

Ross also said that Peet’s is pleasant to work with and doesn’t seem corporate at all. “It’s a small company.”

The Apartments

A Colorado-based company has sold Ceres Plaza Apartments, a 194-unit complex on East Lassen Avenue in Chico, to a group of investors.

Investment specialist Jas Bains of Marcus and Millichap, the nation’s largest real estate investment brokerage company, said he got together with Chicoan Ken Detweiler and a couple of Detweiler’s relatives to form Ceres Plaza Apartments LLC and make the purchase. Hill Companies LLC sold the 18-year-old complex for $10,754,755.

“I like the Chico market. It’s a nice, stable market,” said the Sacramento-based Bains, who kind of “stumbled across” the opportunity.

The apartments house a few college students but mostly working adults, along with a few families and senior citizens. Bains said they don’t plan big changes to the complex, which is 100 percent occupied, with rents ranging from $498 for a studio to $725 for a two-bedroom. RSC will still manage the property. “It’s kind of a turnkey operation,” Bains said. “[But] we’re going to be doing things continuously to improve.”

Coming out

Debuting this week to your right is a new feature for Everybody’s Business, the Out & About column. We wanted to give readers something still newsy and local but a little more punchy and succinct. In Out & About you’ll see us do the research on things like how much worker’s comp pays if you lose a finger, or why the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Chico doesn’t have a public restroom. We may throw a few unexpected questions at a willing local business owner or run down a rumor (Trader Joe’s, anyone?). The topics may be light or serious—something different every week.

If you have an idea for Out & About—maybe you’ve always wondered why something business-related is the way it is in Chico—drop me an e-mail. I’d also love to hear from citizens willing to share their monthly budget, anyone who owns a franchise, companies that require drug tests and any businessman you know of who has a really cool moustache. Enough hints! Keep reading.