Business 8-21

A petition being circulated by patrons of Bricks Cafe, located on the 500 block of State Street, is aimed at persuading the city to permit Bricks’ stand-up comics, karaoke, and live jazz bands to use microphones as well as to get Bricks a dance permit. Residential neighbors have complained about noise from Bricks, which shares its block with amplified music and dancing venues Velvet Jones, Whiskey Richards, and James Joyce.

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After nearly nine months of renovation, The Boathouse opened on 8/16 on the former site of the Brown Pelican, which for 25 years occupied the county-leased restaurant space adjacent to Arroyo Burro Beach. The Boathouse is owned and operated by Tom and Adam White, who also run The Fishouse on Cabrillo Boulevard and the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company on Stearns Wharf.

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Hotel occupancy was up 0.4 percent this summer, according to the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau. On average in June, the city’s hotels were about 80 percent full and the average room cost $174.80, up 2.3 percent from June 2007. For comparison’s sake, hotels in Santa Monica and downtown San Diego were about 85 percent full, and cost $282 and $203 per night, respectively.

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JobSmart-a Santa Barbara nonprofit that has for 15 years provided the unique service of giving job interview-quality clothes to the down-on-their-luck-announced on 8/15 that it would be merging with Unity Shoppe, both physically and organizationally, as a result of high rent at its current 911 De La Vina St. location. (/jobsmart)