Friday, November 29, 2024
Shop local this Black Friday
Friday, July 12, 2024
San Jose's fanciest movie theater shuts down
Source: Silicon Valley Business Journal
Friday, February 2, 2024
Santana Row 2024 Lunar New Year Event on Feb 10th
Friday, December 15, 2023
San Jose Winter Wonder Market this weekend at Westgate Center
Monday, October 9, 2023
Safeway next to Valley Fair Mall finally closing, perhaps opening up expansion opportunities
Source: SFGATE
Friday, September 22, 2023
Sidewalk Shops every Sunday through October 29th at San Pedro Square from 1pm to 5pm
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Santana Row getting first Yeti store in Northern California and 3 new restaurants
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
100 Things To Do In San Jose Before You Die - 2nd Edition
25% of the entries on the second edition are new, and the rest have been updates with extended tips. I have used the book as sort of a checklist to see how many I can do. The answer is 52. In the 2nd Edition I have been able to do 52/100.
- Hiking Mount Umunhum
- Having a picnic at the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve
- Bike, Blade, and Board at Viva CalleSJ
- Letting your taste buds travel with a Little Ethiopian in Little Ethiopia
- Indulge at Adega (I think this will be updated for the 3rd Edition)
- Pair farm-fresh food with gorgeous valley views at the Mount Hamilton GrandView Restaurant
- Celebrating the geekiest week of the year with Star Wars Day and Free Comic Book Day
If I haven't been super clear, I highly recommend the 2nd edition (even if you have the first). You can get the book in paperback or Kindle form over here.
Monday, July 24, 2023
Valley Fair to become the largest luxury watch retail site in the country
Source: Silicon Valley Joe from the San Jose Development Forum
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
SJMADE Fest May 20-21
Monday, March 27, 2023
Valley Fair is expanding and hitting records
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Shop Local Campaign
It's still not too late to do some Christmas Shopping! 🎁
Mayor Sam Liccardo launched a #ShopLocalSJ campaign to encourage people to support San Jose businesses and help keep them afloat in these challenging times. It's a great way to contribute to our local community.
To see a list of Downtown San Jose businesses, head over here. I also have to plug SJMADE, which has a great selection of hyperlocal crafts and foods for purchase here.
Source: SVBJ
Monday, September 28, 2020
Cambrian Park Plaza Proposal
A once popular West San Jose shopping center is slated to be fully redeveloped into a mixed-use urban village. Cambrian Park Plaza is slated to have 58,000 SQFT of retail, a six-story apartment building with 305 units, 25 townhomes, 48 single family homes, a four-story assisted living facility, 229 hotel rooms and generous amounts of park space with include a children's playground, dog park, and community garden.
Weingarten Realty--the developer--was able to cram all of this into 18 acres by placing almost all of the 1,469 parking spaces underground.
The retail spaces are going to be between 1,080 and 5,000 SQFT, which will make it difficult for larger retailers such as BevMo to move back in but will be a convenient size for restaurants and small shops.
Cabrian Park Plaza drawings look pretty darn good so far and remind me a bit of Evergreen Village Square. This is envisioned as a signature project and effectively a downtown area for the Cambrian district.
There is no ETA yet, but hopefully this moves into demo and construction by the end of 2021.
Source: San Jose Inside, SVBJ
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Valley Fair Open-Air Market
The outdoor market is open from 1pm to 7pm from Friday to Sunday in the Outdoor Plaza and North Valet Lot. Below are the list of participating retailers and eateries. The department stores are now fully open as well (masks required of course).
PARTICIPATING RETAILERS
- Athleta (Thursdays & Fridays only + the weekend of 8/21)
- California Pizza Kitchen: outdoor dining on their patio, adjacent to Forest Avenue (open 7 days a week)
- Champs Sports
- The Waffle Roost Food Truck (@thewaffleroost | Saturday's only from 12 - 3:30)
- Coach
- Cotton On
- Cotton On Kids
- David Yuman
- Din Tai Fung: outdoor dining on their pop-up patio, adjacent to Forest Avenue (open 7 days a week)
- Foot Locker
- Fresh Society
- Haagen Dazs (open 7 days a week in the North Valet)
- Hugo Boss
- Johnny Was (only Sat & Sun)
- Kay Jewelers
- Koja Kitchen Bar
- Levi's
- Lovesac
- MCM
- Mex Cal Taco Truck
- Pac Sun
- Pottery Barn
- Quay Australia
- Rabbit Rabbit Tea
- Salt & Straw (open 7 days a week on the plaza)
- Shoe Palace
- Talbots
- UNTUCKit (open 7 days a week on the plaza)
- Young Art Lessons
- Zales
- Zumiez
Source: San Jose Inside
Monday, March 16, 2020
Valley Fair's $1.1B expansion is now partially open
Parking is now a lot easier with a new six-story garage right off of Steven's Creek that goes underneath the expansion and has direct connections to the new Bloomingdales. Speaking of which, it's a true flagship department store with San Jose branding everywhere. Unfortunately I couldn't afford most of the cool things in there, it's more expensive than Nordstrom yet not quite as insane as Neiman Marcus. I did find my favorite clothing store near one of the two entrances of the expansion--Untuckit. This is the first one in San Jose. The expansion also includes Forward (premium doctor's office), Orangetheory Fitness, Bulgari, Cole Haan Grandshop, and a few ex-Santana Row brands such as Anthropologie, Pinkberry, and Urban Outfitters.
The new Santana Row-style outdoor concourse will feature a bunch of high-end restaurants including Maestro's. I have a feeling that they will get another Michelin-recommended restaurant or two this year. Din Thai Fung already has that rating. Salt & Straw is the only place open so far, but the ice cream was exceptional (Bone Marrow and Smoked Cherries... wow). I loved the interactive art on the walls near the entrances too.
They have five new stores focused on retail concepts. One had a bunch of cool Kickstarter projects in it and is similar to B8ta at Santana Row. Definitely worth checking out.
While not part of the expansion, I also finally got to try Ramen Nagi. Even with the Coronavirus, it still took an hour and 15min in line. Totally worth it, it was some of the best ramen I have ever had. It goes by faster than you think since you customize your food while waiting in the line and the food comes quickly once you get inside.
Once the virus boils over, this is hopefully going to drive a lot of extra tax revenue to San Jose. It's hands down the nicest mall in the Bay Area and they are making an effort to be more Santana Rowish with the outdoor space. I truly hate going to traditional malls, but this experience was way better than what I expected. I'll definitely be back to check out the new restaurants as they open.
Source: SVBJ
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Black Friday at Santana Row
Store
|
Offer
|
100% Pure
| Opening at 9 a.m. with exclusive offers. |
Atelier Salon
| Open on Black Friday from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. for a holiday sales event! 20% off all items! *Valid for full-priced items only – excludes gift sets, which are already marked 20% off. |
Barry’s Bootcamp
| Barry’s SHOP & POP – Black Friday only! Swing by the Santana Row studio for a chance to win some special Barry’s prizes. For every $100 spent on retail, packages, or gift cards, you’ll have the chance to pop a balloon containing retail gifts, free passes, shakes & more! |
BellaU Spa & Wellness
| Buy 2 get 1 Free (Signature facial, Eminence facial, Swedish massage, Eminence massage). Buy 3 get 1 Free (Hydrafacial, Microchanneling). All products 10% off. |
Blue Bottle Coffee
| Opening at 7 a.m. |
BoConcept
| Black Friday Week: 11/25/19 – 12/1/19
Special offer on our Osaka Sofa – for one week only! Black Friday Week only, from $1,099 USD + 15% off our entire collection!
|
Bonobos
|
35% off exclusive to Guideshop’s ONLY.
|
Crate & Barrel
|
Opening at 8 a.m. with exclusive offers!
|
DryBar
|
Get $10 off your Black Friday blowout and a $10 off digital bounce-back for a blowout in January. Plus, 20% off products, tools, and kits.
|
H&M
|
Opening at 6 a.m. with door buster discounts.
|
Lululemon
|
Opening at 8 a.m. with markdown celebrations.
|
Makers Market
|
20% off purchases of $100 or more.
|
Marine Layer
|
Extra 20% off Retired Styles, and complimentary gift wrapping for all purchases.
|
Native Shoes
|
Up to 60% off select merchandise.
|
Pressed Juicery
|
Check out the juiciest deals out there at Pressed Juicery! Get a juice or Freeze+ shot for $8 AND. the first 50 people at each store get 2 Juices + 2 Shots + 2 Snack Grab Bags for $10.
|
SoulCycle
|
Don’t miss the 90-minute “Turkey Burn” at SoulCycle, starting at 9:30 a.m. on Black Friday!
|
Tea Collection
|
Tea Collection will be offering select styles at $20, $15, and $10 starting Monday, 11/25/19! Black Friday event applies to select styles only. Offer ends on 11/30/19. Limited stock on hand. Restrictions apply.
|
Ted Baker London
|
Enjoy 30% off everything in the store, with up to 40% and 50% off select items. *Terms and conditions apply.
|
TravisMathew
|
50% off all racks (select merchandise). Buy one get one 50% off!
|
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Living Spaces opening first San Jose store at Oakridge Mall
This will be the very first Living Spaces in Santa Clara County. The closest one to San Jose today is in Fremont.
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Eastridge remodel is complete
The $15 million renovation adds grassy lawns with play areas, a new food court, upgraded finishes, beautiful murals celebrating San Jose, and new programming to make the mall more of a destination. New events include food struck popups, a weekly art experience, and even a dog-friendly social events called "Yappy Hour Forth Fridays."
They also have a few new stores like a 8,400 SQFT Toni & Guy salon, H&M, and an eatery called Trifecta Cooks which landed a free retail space by wining a cooking contest.
For more info and a full event list, head over to the Eastridge FB page.
Source: SJ Economy Blog
Thursday, March 15, 2018
San Jose's Vietnam Town getting major upgrades
The next phase for Vietnam Town is called District One, a 100,000+ SQFT project with dozens of retail condos (store owners will buy part of the building as opposed to leasing) and another parking garage. The new development is inspired by Santana Row and will feature entertainment/programming centered around Asian holidays and celebrations. Instead of just more shopping and restaurants, the focus will be on creating a lively atmosphere.
The Vietnam Town owner is working on final city approvals and hopes to open District One by 2019.
Source: SVBJ
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
San Jose Craft Holiday Fair 2017
The San Jose Craft Holiday Fair runs from 11am to 6pm on Saturday, December 16th and Sunday December 17th. For more info, head over to the SJMADE website.