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It’s the industry that won’t stop growing.
Another coffee shop is opening up, this one in eastern Goleta.
Dune Coffee plans to open at a site that has not had a lot of luck in recent years, 5915 Calle Real, Suite A. It was previously frozen yogurt shop Yo Yum Yum and pizza place Pizza Hut.
The sign on the building is up, and on Thursday, crews were working inside to finish renovations.
“This new and magic coffee shop is coming very soon to the very magical good land!” Dune wrote in a Facebook post.
The company is hiring, according to the post: “This opportunity to make you all incredible coffees is one we don’t ever take for granted. Thank you SB & GOLETA for trusting us!”
Dune, formerly French Press, has another location in Goleta, at 250 Storke Road, and two spots in Santa Barbara, on Anacapa and State streets.
“What started as two people behind an espresso machine in downtown Santa Barbara has grown into a full-scale coffee roastery, bakery and passionate team of people who love service and thrive on making days,” Dune Coffee states on its website. “We believe that specialty coffee is for everyone, and should be accessible, approachable and fun. It is our privilege to find beautiful coffees and roast them and serve them in our hometown of Santa Barbara.”
Funk Zone Surf Shop
Mollusk Surf Shop has opened a store in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone.
The company has two other stores, in Venice Beach and San Francisco.
“When Mollusk Surf Shop opened in 2005, the dream was to create a clubhouse for people who love the beach and art,” Mollie Gordon, manager of the Santa Barbara store, said in a statement. “We carry handcrafted surfboards from local shapers and our own line of California-centric clothing. We have built up a solid team of creatives and surfers in Santa Barbara over the years, so it seemed like a natural fit to open a store here. Santa Barbara represents everything that we stand for with its deep roots in surfing, the arts and nature.”
The store, at 208 Gray Ave., opened in June 2020 at a site next door. Earlier this summer, it moved to its current location.
The shop sells handcrafted surfboards, clothes for men, women and children, and a variety of surf gear.
Gordon told Noozhawk that she enjoys working in the Funk Zone.
“It’s actually kind of nice to be in close proximity to the other surf shops,” Gordon said. “I feel like we bounce off of each other. I like it. I feel like it’s a good community.”
She said the shop is bringing back some history to the Funk Zone.
“There used to be surfboard manufacturing here in the ’70s,” Gordon said. “We feel lucky to be a part of that again.”
Labor Market Data
Santa Barbara County’s unemployment rate in October was 4.5%, down from 6.6% a year ago.
About 9,900 eligible members of the workforce are unemployed in the county, according to the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board.
Two years ago, Santa Barbara’s unemployment rate was about 3%, but it started creeping up slowly until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which saw the unemployment rate skyrocket all the way to 14% in April 2020. The unemployment rate has steadily fallen.
Santa Barbara County’s unemployment rate is lower than California’s, which is at 6.1%, but it’s higher than the national number of 4.3%.
The city with the largest unemployment rate in the county is Guadalupe, at 6.5%, followed by Santa Barbara at 5.9% and Solvang at 4.5%. Buellton has the lowest unemployment rate in the county at 1.5%.
The largest unemployment sector in the county is government, employing about 35,700 people, followed by business and professional services at 35,300 individuals.
Alisal Award and New Site
The Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort in Solvang has launched a new e-commerce site, Shop Alisal.
Items are available for purchase at shopalisalranch.com. Products range from Alisal apparel (hoodies and T-shirts), items from The Alisal’s recent “RNCH” collaboration with “celebrated designer” Heidi Merrick (hoodies, trucker hats, crewnecks and more), as well as Alisal Christmas ornaments and other holiday items. The site offers nationwide shipping.
The Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort was recently named one of the “Top 15 Resorts in Southern California” by Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
— 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.
