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A Starbucks will open later this month inside the Ralph’s grocery store on Carrillo Street in downtown Santa Barbara.
The 100 W. Carrillo St. location will offer the Seattle-based coffee giant’s standard menu of handcrafted beverages and food, a Starbucks spokeswoman said.
According to local management, which estimated an opening within the next two weeks, Ralph’s executives decided the location — one of two in Santa Barbara — had the room to house a Starbucks right inside its main entrance near the self check-out lanes.
Another standalone Starbucks is a block away at 208 W. Carrillo St., not to mention three other downtown State Street locations.
“Choosing a site for a Starbucks location involves many factors and we often work with licensees to bring stores to new locations like groceries, universities, hospitals and more,” the Starbucks spokeswoman said.
Fifty Ralph’s stores currently boast a Starbucks, and the Southern California-based chain is apparently looking to boost that number significantly in 2016, said Kendra Doyel, the company’s vice president of public relations and government affairs.
She said she couldn’t elaborate on which other stores were slated to get a Starbucks.
Pascucci Opens in Goleta
After two decades of serving affordable, locally sourced Italian fare in Santa Barbara, Pascucci opened its second location this week at Goleta’s Camino Real Marketplace.
The location at 6920 Marketplace Dr. opened Monday with the exact same menu as the 729 State St. restaurant, including pasta pascucci, bellagio, ravioli sampler and more, according to owner Laura Knight.
Goleta’s Pascucci location has hosted several soft openings leading up to this week.
Under the direction of manager Chris Miller, the restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Union Bank Makes Hire
Louie (Lou) Escoto has joined Union Bank’s residential lending team as vice president and residential lending producing sales manager for San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County.
Escoto, who has more than 25 years of financial service industry experience, will manage a team of mortgage consultants and will be responsible for growing the bank’s residential lending business in the greater San Luis Obispo area.
Moto2You Opens
A new motorsport transportation company has launched in the Santa Barbara area to help motorcycle owners get their vehicles to a service/repair shop.
Moto2You Co. is open for business, offering 24-7 service for owners who don’t own a pickup truck or van to transport their motorcycle.
The business is the brainchild of Paul Monson, a Santa Barbara native and motorcycle owner who started a Kids Cuts company back in 1995 and has been in the tech industry for more than 15 years.
Moto2You Co. transports motorcycles, scooters, ATVs and more for individual local owners, motorsport dealers and independent shops at a competitive price — typically under $100 one way.
The company has a Sprinter Van equipped with a 1,500-pound capacity ramp, along with heavy duty wheel chocks and tie down straps. Beyond standard commercial business liability coverage, Moto2You Co. is fully insured for cargo up to $100,000.
Monson says the business will operate between Santa Maria and Ventura, with a focus on local delivery from Buellton to Carpinteria.
American Riviera Announces Board of Directors
American Riviera Bank, which merged with The Bank of Santa Barbara last month, has announced its new board of directors.
American Riviera Bank’s 12-member board is comprised of four directors from The Bank of Santa Barbara’s board and all eight directors from American Riviera Bank’s previous board.
Directors from The Bank of Santa Barbara include Leonard Himelsein, Julie McGovern, David Mokros and Dr. Richard Scheinberg.
Those from American Riviera are Frank Burgess, Joe Campanelli, Darren Caesar (board vice chair), CEO Jeff DeVine, Jody Holehouse, Joe Howell, Larry Koppelman (board chair) and Doug Margerum.
American Riviera Bank has more $400 million in assets, three branches and full-service mortgage and SBA lending departments with a legal lending limit up to $10 million.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.