Business Journal: Mutts & Mugs, Toys R Us, Scandinavian Designs, Fit Crawl

Mutts & Mugs

A new business planned in Sacramento's South Land Park neighborhood will cater to both lovers of beer and dogs.

"Mutts & Mugs is in the early planning stages at 6622 Freeport Boulevard," says the Sacramento Business Journal's Digital Editor Sonya Sorich. "It would combine an outdoor, off-leash dog park with a restaurant and taproom. It could open next spring."

Scandinavian Designs To Replace Toys R Us In Elk Grove

As Toys R Us is going through bankruptcy liquidation, it looks like one of the retailer's former sites in the Sacramento area will become a furniture store. Sorich says Scandinavian Designs has submitted the winning bid for the location in Elk Grove.

"Documents filed as part of the Toys R Us bankruptcy liquidation show that the furniture retailer submitted the winning bid for the store which is on Bond Road in Elk Grove," says Sorich. "The store has been called a higher-priced version of the popular furniture retailer Ikea."

It's still not known what will fill Toys R Us sites in Roseville, Citrus Heights, Arden Way and the Folsom outlets. A Babies R Us store closed in Folsom last year, and there's also one in Roseville. In general, these are pretty large retail spaces. The Elk Grove site, which is a Toys R Us and Babies R Us location, is nearly 50,000 square feet.

Former Whole Foods Market In Davis Still Empty

In Davis, it's been more than a year since Whole Foods Market closed its location in the Davis Commons shopping center. And the site is still empty. Sorich says Whole Foods has continued to pay the lease on the 2,200-square-foot space while looking for another tenant to fill the spot.

"Fulcrum Property, the owner of the center, has final approval rights on subleases in the center and apparently, none of the proposed tenants so far have fit the character of that Davis center," says Sorich.

A broker working on the space said it could be a good place for an entertainment center with things like bowling and a taproom. He also suggested that there aren't too many robust categories of retail right now. Fitness and entertainment companies seem to be the only businesses seeing retail growth.

Fit Crawl In Sacramento Saturday

If you're into exercising and you're looking for something different to do in Sacramento this weekend, you can check out an event called Fit Crawl. Sorich says it's kind of like a bar crawl, but instead of going from bar to bar, you go from fitness studio to fitness studio.

"This event series is designed to showcase local fitness studios, and it focuses largely on concepts that are smaller than big-box gyms," says Sorich. "Saturday's Fit Crawl will include Cycle Life, Union Boxing and Power Yoga and Sacramento Eco Fitness."

Analysts say big-box gyms don't necessarily pose a threat to smaller, locally owned fitness studios. It's common for people to visit both. Meanwhile, people in the industry say as the Sacramento-area fitness scene grows, salaries are becoming more competitive for fitness professionals.