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Another tech company is headed to downtown Santa Barbara.
Los Angeles-based Honey Science Corporation has subleased two buildings — at 530 Chapala St. and 25 W. Cota St.
Honey Science Corporation, founded in 2012, provides a free browser extension called “Honey” that automatically finds and applies coupons at grocery store checkout lines. Honey Science has additional offices in Boulder, Colorado, London, and Sydney and has 10 million users and 30,000 retailers worldwide.
The new leases are on top of Honey’s 6,000-square-foot lease at 333 E. Haley St. in early 2018.
“This is the latest example of the emerging trend of tech companies expanding into office spaces in the heart of downtown,” said Greg Bartholomew of Hayes Commercial Group.
Amazon, Invoca, and WellHealth also have signed leases in the past six months for large spaces on or near State Street.
The Spanish-style structure at 530 Chapala St. was previously a retail building, and the 25 W. Cota building was previously used for industrial houses. The buildings will be redesigned into “state-of-the-art creative office space,” with on-site covered parking and a rooftop deck, Bartholomew said.
Honey is expected to make full use of the space by the fourth quarter of 2019.
Shaker Mill to Open
After a soft launch two weeks ago, Shaker Mill plans a Grand Opening on April 19.
The space at 418 State St. is a collaboration between Shaker Mill and Cubaneo restaurant. The focus is patio cocktails inspired by the “Golden Age of Cuba,” said one of the owners, Misty Orman.
“We’ve tweaked some classic Cuban cocktail recipes, and have come up with our own,” Orman said.
Drinks include the blended Cuba Libre (house spiced rum, kola, ginger, 151 rum, lime) and the Porto Guava (rum, guava, ruby port, local citrus and cachaca).
The Shaker Mill is also offering a small list of natural wines and local beers/cider.
The Cubaneo kitchen serves traditional Cuban dishes, such as the Cubano sandwich, arroz con pollo, mojo-marinated chicken, and Mima’s frijoles negros,
“We hope people experience a little slice of vacation, or staycation, when they visit with us,” Orman said.
They are open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m now daily, and beginning Monday, daily from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
New Hairstylist
Chandler Men’s Salon, 401 Chapala St., has a new hair stylist.
Anastacio Lombawa, 24, teaches haircutting for men at Santa Barbara City College, where he earned his cosmetology license.
Lombawa earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Westmont College. He also regularly tours large hair shows in places such as New York, Los Angeles, Long Beach and across the nation.
“I do see myself as an educator,” said Lombawa, who is planning to tour hair shows in London, Toronto, Las Vegas and Orlando.
Lombawa originally worked at a commercial insurance broker’s firm, but did not like the job.
“I did exceedingly well but I was miserable,” he said. “I was only 22, and I felt I needed to do something that I was passionate about or interested in.”
Lombawa’s barber suggested he take up barbering and hair styling. He went to a barber school in Ventura and then transferred to City College.
— 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.