Everybody’s business

Calm before the Stormy’s
I talked to Terry Kaveney to get an update on the sale of Stormy’s Off Broadway.

Kaveney, who’s owned Stormy’s with her husband Dean since 1996, informed me that there could be a sale in the next couple of months. She said what is certain is that, despite earlier reports, The Couch will not be going into the space.

She said she couldn’t specify exactly what is moving in the space at this time, but that they were looking for like-minded people who would maintain the character of the establishment.

“Hippies need a place to go, and musicians need a place to play,” Kaveney said.

More bites for your buck
Fred Marken, owner of Grilla Bites downtown on Second Street, is looking to open a new location, possibly by the end of April.

Marken said that, aside from providing healthful food, the new location will nearly triple the number of organic purchases he makes from local farmers.

“It’s an attempt to open up more markets for local farmers and small manufacturers,” Marken said.

Kate Pattison, who manages the downtown location, said the new restaurant will be twice the size—nearly 3,000 square feet—and located on Cohasset Road in the new Garden Villa complex, near the Happy Garden restaurant. She said the bigger location will allow them to double the size of the salad bar and bring back the breakfast menu.

Local radio station soars
Chico State University’s KCHO radio has been recently recognized as a “soaring” business by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

KCHO was the only station in California to receive the honor, which is based on financial health and audience service.

Jack Brown, KCHO’s station manager, said CPB began doing a national study of the financial health of public radio in 1999, which concluded in 2003. He said the results are broken down into four categories: maintaining, growing, failing and, of course, soaring. In order to be considered a soaring station, the net revenue must exceed the operating revenue by 5 percent. KCHO has net revenue of 7 percent.

Brown said the honor is especially significant considering they’re in a smaller market.

“We’ve dealt with what we had and turned it into a very successful operation,” Brown said.

How sweet it is
Although it hasn’t been there very long, The Sweet Shoppe is already getting noticed.

The shop, located in the Safeway shopping center on East Avenue, has received a lot of attention from the Pleasant Valley High School crowd and will be featured in an upcoming issue of the school’s newspaper, The Saga.

The shop offers all kinds of goodies, including a large assortment of Dreyer’s Ice Cream and Jelly Bellys.

Owner Don Miller said it is something he’s wanted to do for about 15 years, but that the opportunity hadn’t presented itself until now.

Miller, who grew up in Chico, moved in 1960 and worked for the McCormick Spice Company for 30 years. He recently retired, moved back to town and opened up the shop a little over a month ago. Miller’s daughter, Jennifer Harper, manages the shop.