Business News

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Le Boulanger’s owners are selling their retail and wholesale divisions. Posh Bakery will run the nine Le Boulanger cafes, including the Los Altos eatery at 301 Main St., above.

For four decades, the Brunello family has balanced the three-tier operation that is Le Boulanger. This decade will look different as they maintain the catering division of the company but sell the retail and wholesale divisions.

Jeffrey Ottoveggio’s Posh Bakery will run the nine Le Boulanger cafes – including the Los Altos eatery at 301 Main St. – with the same branding, products and service patrons are familiar with, Le Boulanger CEO Dan Brunello told the Town Crier.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier

Safeway Community Market in Rancho Shopping Center is preparing to drop the company’s rebranding from 2016 and revert to its former name, Andronico’s. Items from Safeway’s Signature line are currently on sale.

Some call it the “Baby Safeway.” To others, it’s “Safronico’s.” As soon as this week, however, customers may start referring to the petite market in Rancho Shopping Center as Andronico’s once again, as signage – and more – is set to revert back to its pre-2016 state.

The change is part of a rebranding effort Safeway is undertaking at four Safeway Community Market locations known as Andronico’s until 2016, the year Albertsons, Safeway’s parent company, purchased them: two in Berkeley, one in San Anselmo and the one at 690 Fremont Ave. in Rancho Shopping Center in Los Altos. A fifth location in San Francisco retained part of the original name, which is shared by an Andronico’s Community Market that opened January 2019 in Monterey.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Signs – and signs of the times – are posted around downtown Los Altos in the new year. Cooks’ Junction, sells items for 50%off before owner Linda Janes hands her business down to her daughters.

Whether it’s through a temporary pop-up installation, ownership change or retirement, the retail landscape in downtown Los Altos enters 2020 looking different than it did a year ago.

The old makes way for the new

Loyal customers of Kids Only, formerly located at 248 Main St., said goodbye to the shop when longtime operator Rita Tjhoi was forced to close its doors last October. But those customers can now rejoice: Tjhoi’s son, Kevin, is selling merchandise from the old location in a pop-up shop at the former home of Kitchens of Los Altos at 155 Main St.

Katz

When the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce reopens after the holidays, a new president and CEO will be at the helm – fourth-generation area native Peter Katz.

Katz took over responsibilities Dec. 10, according to a press release about his arrival. As he settles in, he will bring expertise from 20-plus years in commercial businesses, more than 10 years with nonprofit organizations and several years with educational institutions.

Courtesy of Flickr
The wisest uses for a tax refund is to funnel it into retirement savings, pay off debt or pad a rainy day fund, experts say, since it is essentially your own income you overpaid to the state.

Taxes are an unavoidable fact of life. Unfortunately, they can be somewhat overwhelming, which can cause people to put the task off and miss the deadline. Use the following strategies for a stress-free tax season.

• Get it over with. The sooner you file your taxes, the sooner you can stop worrying about them. Early filing also means an earlier refund – if you’re due one – or time to plan to prepare to pay any owed taxes. To ensure it all happens on time, block out time on your calendar to sit down and work on your taxes. Be sure not to underestimate how much time is needed. If your situation has gotten more complicated over the past year, figure that into the equation.