The Willow Glen Resident Two Glen merchants join the downtown business board Araki and Carris win appointments to association By Cecily Barnes After recently joining the downtown merchant community in Willow Glen, Tea Totaler owner Don Araki and Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company chieftain Chris Carris have been voted in as the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association's newest board members. Before Araki's and Carris's memberships were confirmed, only two other retail merchants sat on the now 13-person board of directors--Julie Painchaud from Our Secret, and Kathy Mussman from What Women Want Swimwear. Two bankers, one restaurant owner and a real estate agent also sit on the board, as do several other professionals who work within the Business Improvement District, and two associate members not included in the BID. "They both have a lot of enthusiasm and they're also great because they're new to the Avenue," said the association's business manager Demetri Rizos about Araki and Carris. "They're very excited about being on Lincoln Avenue." Chris Carris purchased the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company from former owner Matt Cullen around six months ago. His interest in the coffee business came after he was laid off from his engineering job at Amdahl Corporation in 1993. He says he likes the security that self-employment offers. "No one in industry can count on staying in there full-time," Carris said. "I was good at my job, I was in fact, very good but I was laid off in 1993 when [Amdahl] downsized by 5,000 people." After leaving the engineering field, Carris applied for numerous coffeeshop jobs in his hometown of Cupertino. Finally he found employment at an independent coffeehouse, and soon after, met Cullen. Carris expressed an interest in learning the art of roasting, and Cullen hired him. The two worked together for six months until Carris found another engineering job at Watkins Johnson in 1995 and left the coffeeshop business. But in 1998, Carris found himself laid off again. This time Cullen was ready to sell and Carris was ready to buy. "Between Matt and myself we wanted a seamless transition that no one in the community would worry about," Carris said. Now Carris feels established in the merchant community and plans to become more involved in promoting the Avenue as a whole. "My dream is to tie together either Founders Day or Dancing on the Avenue with what I would call the Espresso Olympics," Carris explained. "We would have a number of espresso bars set up with bleachers for the audience and challenge all the independent [coffee stores] and the big timers to compete--best drink, fastest baristas, best presentation and all the details." The Tea Totaler's Araki says his main goal as a board member with the business association is to work towards more Christmas decorations on Lincoln Avenue. "I want to see Christmas developed a lot more," Araki says. "They tried real hard to do the lights and everything this year, but maybe next year it can work." Araki also wants to sharpen Willow Glen's customer base in order to better compete with Valley Fair. "Willow Glen has a certain flare that could attract a lot more people downtown if they work together even as far as staying open later," Araki says. "If more businesses stayed open later more people would go downtown. Starbucks was one of the leaders in that trend." According to business manager Rizos, any member of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association who has paid his or her annual dues is eligible to sit on the board, which varies from 10 to 15 members. "Usually [the member] comes to a board meeting and expresses interest. The board asks them why they want to join and then a motion is brought up," Rizos said. "I have never remembered anyone not being voted in." [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, January 6, 1999. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.