July 26, 2007

BIZ BUZZ
By BARBARA GIASONE STAFF WRITER

A place for motorcycle riders to feel welcomed

Harley-Davidson riders – and early morning commuters in general – thirsting for an early morning cup of java may find the new Coffee & Chrome restaurant perfect to get the day started.

The café, which opens in October, will serve customers from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends.

“I have a lot of Harley rider friends, and they don’t like going to coffee shops because their cycles make so much noise,” said new restaurateur Christine Castro. “We’re in a small strip center in an industrial area, and it won’t make a difference when they roll in here.”

Castro said the coffee, pastry and breakfast burrito stop has been her dream for a long time, even while working for the past 33 years with the Southern California Edison Company.

“I spent 18 months looking for the right site,” said Castro, who finally settled on 2433 E. Orangethorpe Ave., between State College Boulevard and the Orange (57) Freeway.

Kim Rhynes of Brownstone Café in downtown Fullerton has offered to supply the breakfast burritos while pastries will be delivered by different vendors.

And the coffee? Castro will “import” what she calls very smooth, bold-tasting java from Dillanos of Washington state.

Coffee & Chrome seats 12 and offers a meeting room for 12 with a plasma television.

Embroidery shop gets traditional start

Another native Fullertonian has decided to open a business in his hometown. Rodney Ueno, who attended Sunset Lane, Parks Junior High, Sunny Hills High schools and Cal State Fullerton, opened EmbroidMe-Fullerton last Friday at 2451 E. Chapman Ave., in the Smart & Final shopping center. EmbroidMe is an international franchise with more than 400 locations worldwide.

“Collectively, we are the largest embroidery, screen printing and promotional products company in the world,” Ueno said.

To celebrate the grand opening, Ueno arranged for the traditional Japanese Taiko Drum performance “to beat in good luck and fortune while driving away the evil spirits,” he said.

Ueno said his business is different than most embroidery shops because of a fully stocked showroom where customers can see, feel and touch a garment before ordering.

The store also specializes in team wear, trophies, screen printing, hats, chef coats and restaurant wear.

Compounding pharmacy to open

On to another hometown entrepreneur, Troy High School graduate (Class of ’99) Ali Rezaei, who is opening King’s Pharmacy and Compounding Center in the new Providence Center medical building on Sunnycrest Drive.

Rezaei, who has owned a King’s in Anaheim Hills for 10 years, specializes in traditional and compounding medicines – a technique used in apothecaries years ago to crush and blend pills.

“We have the ability to flavor pills for children or make bioidentical hormone replacement therapy like Suzanne Somers has been promoting for pre- and post-menopausal women,” Rezaei said.

The pharmacist, who earned his doctorate at UC San Diego, said he also works with pain-management medicine, particularly topical pain creams.

The pharmacy will open in late August or early September. Hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.

Company earns Microsoft ranking

FutureWare SCG of Fullerton has been awarded a Microsoft Certified Partner standing, and an independent software vendor software solutions in developing and marketing branded software products based on Microsoft technologies.

Chuck Brooks, co-founder and president of FutureWare, said the achievement is a result of providing award-winning software products that customers often recommend to others.

All of FutureWare’s products are available as functional “Try Before You Buy” downloads from many Web sites, including www.futurewaredc.com.