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First Bristol Farms, now Wingstop.
La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara soon will have something for nearly every type of foodie.
The popular and rapidly expanding chain will spread its wings and fly into Santa Barbara at the end of January, or in early February at the latest.
“We are going to try to get it open before the Super Bowl (on Feb. 7),” district manager Veronica Vasquez said. “It depends on construction. We will see how it goes, but that’s what we are trying to do.”
Santa Barbara has its gourmet coffee shops, specialized chocolate stores and its fair share of places to buy an authentic Mexican burrito, but for some reason, the chicken wing market has remained elusive.
Not for long. Soon, people can enjoy Wingstop’s boneless or classic wings in increments of 10, 20, 50 and even 100. There also will be chicken tenders, fries, specialized dips and the famous triple-chocolate chunk brownie.
The store is opening between See’s Candies and Chipotle, and about 50 yards, as the crow flies, from Bristol Farms.
The signs are up, and the store is hiring. There is contact information on a sheet taped to the door.
Vasquez told Noozhawk that the company is “super excited” about opening in Santa Barbara. It already has descended into Lompoc and Buellton.
GameStopped
La Cumbre Plaza giveth and it taketh.
Across the mall in Santa Barbara is GameStop, at least for 10 more days.
The once-popular video game store has run out of lives, and there’s no turbo-charger available.
An employee of the store told Noozhawk on Thursday that the corporate chain will close the La Cumbre Plaza store as part of a national downsizing, and that the plan was in the works even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The store has been around for about 40 years, going back to when it was more computer-gamish, and called Software Etc.
There’s some good news amid it all, however. There is a lot of stuffs on sale. Replace a bad controller or get other video games, toys and board games for as much as 70% off. Only gift cards and consoles remain at their regular prices.
Gas Prices Drop
The price of gas at the ExxonMobil station at the corner of Storke Road and Glen Annie Road in Goleta has dropped — by $1.30.
The gas station is known for having — for several years — prices of $4.79, $4.89 and $4.99 a gallon.
That’s among the highest in the state, outside of the tiny desert town of Needles. But on Thursday morning, the price dropped to $3.49.
Many conspiracy theories abound about the prices. It’s possible that its high visibility from Highway 101 suckers motorists in for a fill-up. Perhaps desperate people on their last gallon of gas aren’t willing to travel to the nearby 7-Eleven station up the road, or over the highway to the slightly less expensive Chevron.
Maybe college students, who have a hefty gas allowance from their parents, just fill ‘er up, not knowing that Old Town Goleta’s USA gas has big sales on Sundays.
An employee of the station responded to Noozhawk’s question about the price drop with, “Is that a problem?”
As for the reason for the giant price cut, Noozhawk is still awaiting a response from the manager.
In the meantime, fill up on gas while you can.
Quinn Fiduciary Services Makes Hire
Santa Barbara-based Quinn Fiduciary Services, an estate management firm, has hired licensed professional fiduciary Shannon Dalton.
Dalton previously worked as a licensed health and life insurance agent for Aflac. She also started her own insurance company, before taking a break to raise her two children, according to a news release.
Dalton holds a certificate in fiduciary management from UC Riverside and is a member of the National Guardianship Association. She also has a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University as well as a bachelor’s degree in communication disorders and a bachelor’s degree in French from Pennsylvania State University.
Hotel Bed Taxes Decline
The City of Santa Barbara collected $1 million in transient occupancy taxes for November, a 22% decline from the same month the prior year.
The decline in hotel bed taxes is expected to continue once the city gets the numbers for December and January, after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shutdown order under which only essential travel is allowed.
The city has collected $6.8 million through five months of its fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30.
Santa Barbara’s approved transient occupancy tax budget is $17.2 million.
— 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.
