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One of Andrew Gonzales’ heroes is the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was known for his entrepreneurial business mind. Hussle sold shoes to buy clothes in elementary school, eventually created his own clothing line, and launched his own record label so he could own the masters to his music.
So when Gonzales opened 805 University at 920 State St. in Santa Barbara, he was simultaneously inspired by the West Coast performer and wanted to honor him.
The floor-to-ceiling mural, painted by Griffin Lounsbury, or xgriffinx, is a striking flex for Gonzales, who is now a business owner and entrepreneur of his own.
“I started listening to him when I was 17, 18 years old,” Gonzales told Noozhawk. “Just his message, he was about ownership, he was very smart business-wise. He had a lot of advice in his music. I just gravitated toward that because I always wanted to own something.”
In August, Gonzales opened 805 University, a vintage sports clothing store. He previously sold 805 merchandise at a store in Old Town Goleta, but decided to move the store to the promenade and open his own place. He sells vintage football, basketball and baseball clothes. For those who like Detroit Lions running back great Barry Sanders or Los Angeles Rams legend Nolan Cromwell, 805 University has the gear.
Most of the stuff is from the 1990s and 2000s, but he does sell modern-day baseball and football hats. Gonzales finds the gear himself, spending days and nights on eBay or traveling to Los Angeles to buy gear from his sources.
“Everywhere, I go, everywhere,” Gonzales said of where he gets his clothes.
His favorites to sell right now are the starter jacket. His favorite teams are the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Tennessee Titans.
He’s part Chumash and said he grew up on the Chumash reservation. It “blows their mind,” he said, that he started his own business.
“It’s very different up there,” said Gonzales, who has three children. “It’s a small community.”
On State Street, Gonzales said business has picked up. He gets tourists, high school students and much more foot traffic.
Gonzales, like Hussle, once sold shoes out of his trunk for a year. Now, with Hussle looking down on him, Gonzales is writing his own story and becoming an inspiration of his own.
805 University is open from 11 a.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Building on East Haley Street Sells
A multi-tenant office and industrial project at 126 E. Haley St. in Santa Barbara has sold for $13.9 million.
Newmark Executive Managing Director Sean Fulp and Managing Directors Mark Schuessler and Ryan Plummer, in partnership with Paul Gamberdella of Radius Commercial Real Estate, represented the seller, Brian Lezak at Cameron Pacific in conjunction with The Miller Family Companies, according to a news release.
The buyer, The Simms/Mann Family Foundation, was represented by Willa Fields at Beitler Commercial.
“Santa Barbara’s desirability has accelerated through the pandemic with commercial tenants and investors bullish on the future prospects of the market,” Fulp said in a news release “The Platform, along with its prime location in the up-and-coming Haley Street Corridor, has everything that tenants are now seeking in commercial space.”
The building is known as The Platform.
Underground Hair Salon Moving
Santa Barbara’s Underground Hair Artists has moved to 2279 Las Positas Road and will hold an open house from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.
Owners Tony and Fay Doe will donate $1,000 to the Notes for Notes youth music program at the Boys & Girls Clubs plus 10% of proceeds from products sold during the event, according to a news release.
The grand opening will feature live entertainment from musician Cecile James and giveaways. Food and beverages will be served outdoors.
The salon will employ six hairstylists.
Underground Hair Artists was formerly located at De la Vina and Constance streets, and before that was on Chapala Street across from the municipal bus station for many years.
“We are celebrating the opening of our new space by throwing one of our famous parties,” Fay Doe said.
City Tax Revenue Up
Sales and transient occupancy taxes continue to rise in the city of Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara received $7.3 million in sales tax revenue during the quarter ended June 30, about 49% above the same quarter last year, according to Jennifer Tomaszewski, finance and treasury manager for the city.
The contributing factors to the increase include inflation, continued growth in online sales and the collection of deferred sales taxes, which were instituted by the governor as an early COVID-19 relief measure for businesses, according to a news release.
Sales tax revenue for the year ended at $24.3 million, nearly $2.1 million above the budget of $22.2 million. Sales tax results for the September quarter — the first quarter of fiscal year 2022 — will be available in November.
About $3.4 million in transient occupancy taxes were collected in August. That’s about $1.4 million higher than August 2020.
Compared with August 2019, this August’s revenues were higher by 17%, largely because of increased average daily rates, which are 33% higher than August 2019.
The local travel industry is now seeing increases in demand for rooms relative to recent months, which is likely to continue throughout the summer and fall months as the state has lifted travel advisories and as access to COVID-19 vaccinations has become more widely available, Tomaszewski said in a news release.
New Vinyl Store
A new vinyl record store is opening in Santa Barbara.
Paradise on State Street will hold a grand opening from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16 at 432 State St.
Mike Alexander has owned a similar store in Orcutt for the past decade.
The Santa Barbara store has more than 100,000 records. The store also has “one of Santa Barbara’s finest crystal collections and a large variety of sports memorabilia and vintage toys, instruments and clothing,” according to a news release.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
