District Blog

It might be 2020, but we're still allowed to have favorite businesses, right? Metro Magazine just published the results of their annual Best of Silicon Valley reader's poll and even in this muted Sheltered-in-Place year, Downtown Campbell had a strong presence in the rankings.

The following businesses earned a top three ranking in one or more survey categories in the Metro's annual poll.

• A Bellagio
  Best Italian Restaurant
• Aqui
  Best Dining Value, Best Family Restaurant, Best Mexican
• The Bagel Bar
  Best Bagel Shop
• Blue Line Pizza
  Best Pizza
• Brown Chicken Brown Cow
  Best Burger, Best Small Restaurant
• Heroes Comics
  Best Comics Store
• Kyoto Palace
  Best Japanese Restaurant
• Naschmarkt
  Best German Restaurant
• On the Corner
  Best Indie Record Shop
• Palazzi Salon
  Best Salon
• Psycho Donuts
  Best Donut Shop
• Rage Salon
  Best Hair Salon
• Recycle Bookstore
  Best Indie Bookshop
• Spread Deli & Bottles
  Best Deli
• Stacks
  Best Breakfast
• Station X Salon
  Best Salon
• Sushi Confidential
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Our team is back together!

For the first time since the pandemic began on March 17th, our full team is back together. We re-opened our doors to the general public on September 9th. Since then, we have watched the schedule fill up quickly with so many clients, desperate to get back on track through restorative massage. If you have not been able to get on the schedule, you will be happy to see that we now have more openings throughout the week with all four of us back at work. We are committed to providing you a safe and healthy space to receive a massage during these unsettling times.

Therapists Weekly Schedule

Donna: Mon 11-6, Tue 9:30-3, Wed 11-6, Fri 9:30-5
Javier: Tue 9-9, Wed 3-8, Thur 9-9, Fri 11-4, Sat 10-6
Tricia: Tue 3-8, Wed 9-3, Thur 9-3
Kelly: Sunday 11-5

Book Now at www.bodyrestmassage.com

The long difficult summer of 2020 is coming to a close and with it, we're also going to be phasing out the Downtown Campbell Survival Project. In the five months that we ran the contest, we gave away well over $1000 worth of prizes. It was a lot of fun running the monthly giveaways and we want to thank everyone who entered our contests by sharing our posts or by purchasing something.

While it was fun running these monthly contests, it was also a lot of work! For the sake of the one person running all of the digital operations for Downtown Campbell, we'll be putting the #VivaDTC hashtag and email address away... at least for now. You'll probably be seeing these contests come back for special engagements in the future.

Before we end our run for 2020, we'd like to congratulate our September winners.

• $50 Gift Card to any Retailer: Mona T (Therapy Stores)
• $25 Gift Card to Opa: Roneet R
• Dozen Bagels from the Bagel Bar: Christine J.
• $10 Gift Certificate to Blue Line Pizza: Jason B, Gigi G, Jill S, Akaya, Jayne W.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us make the Downtown Campbell Survival Project a success.

There's going to be some heavy machinery in Downtown Campbell on Monday, September 28th to install the barriers and other equipment that we'll need to setup our parklets. There'll be a crane (a lot smaller than the one in this photo) getting everything in place throughout the morning and into the afternoon.

Parklets will be installed for 23 different businesses. Some businesses will only be occupying the parking space directly in front of their shop, but some will also adopt unused parking spots donated by their neighbors to get more space to work with.

In an effort to make the parklets more pleasing, potted trees will also be installed around the parklets. The trees will be arriving on Tuesday.

The parklets are here to stay for the near future. The City has stated that the parklets will remain for a minimum of 3 months and likely longer, but modifications to improve the parklet program will be made as necessary. If you have feedback that you would like to submit on the City of Campbell's parklet program, please email the City Manger's office at [email protected].

will be in place for at least three months.

The current risk level for Santa Clara County based on the State of California's Blueprint for a Safer Economy is RED - Substantial (Tier 2 of 4).

Each county is assigned one of four tier rankings based on two critical infection numbers for the county:

• Adjusted number of new daily cases per 100,000 people.
• Percent of positive PCR tests.

At the Red tier, all Downtown Campbell businesses except for bars that do not serve food are allowed to be open in at least some capacity. As infection rates improve or get worse businesses will need to adjust their capacity accordingly. At the most restrictive (Purple - Widespread) tier, some businesses will not be able to operate at all.

The infection numbers are evaluated every Tuesday for changes. If our county numbers cause us to regress to a more restricted risk tier, we get one week to turn things around before we're required to comply with the more restricted rules.

The same applies for advancing to a less restricted tier. We need to show qualifying numbers for at two weeks* in a row before being allowed to progress.

Santa Clara County's infection numbers as of September 22 are:

• 5.6 new cases/day per 100K (Unadjusted)
• 4.7 new cases/day per 100K (Adjusted)
• 2.4% positive test cases

Adjusted vs Unadjusted Case Counts

Case counts are published as an adjusted and unadjusted number. The adjusted number is the unadjusted number with two important modifications.

• Case counts coming from prisons are excluded.
• A testing bonus/penalty is applied. Counties that test more are rewarded with a bonus reduction in their case count. Counties that don't test enough are penalized.

Blueprint for a Safer Economy

See the Blueprint for a Safer Economy site for more details about the different risk tier levels and what is and isn't allowed by the state at each level. Be aware that counties have the final say of what can be disallowed. Santa Clara County generally follows the state guidelines except for in one area. Indoor dining is not allowed in Santa Clara County.

Thank You for Taking Precautions

Thank you to all of you who have been careful and are taking precautions to reduce the risk to yourself and to others. The only way our businesses can remain open is if everyone acts responsibly and keeps the infection rates low until we have an effective vaccine and enough of that vaccine to end the Covid-19 pandemic. We understand that having to wear face masks, keeping distance, and not being able to hold private social events at your house is not a lifestyle choice anyone really enjoys, but it's what we all have to do for the sake of everyone in our community.

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Dearest Snake & Butterfly family,

Like all of us, 2020 has hit S & B really hard. We started out the year with the expectation of our lives moving in a completely different direction. In January, we put the shop on the market for sale after we had decided that it was time for us to begin our next chapters.

Celeste was going to continue making moves in local politics, changing the world one day at a time. Vince was going to attempt to retire and enjoy more time with his beautiful Maria. I was going on a grand European adventure and try to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

This year has had other plans for all of us. We caught on fire. An offer to buy the shop fell through because shelter in place started… and then we lost Vince.

A big part of the soul of the shop is gone and S&B will never be what it was. Celeste, Cris and I cannot carry the torch without him and are ready to move forward.

With all of that said, we hope that you can help us close the book on this chapter of our lives by spreading the word. Saying goodbye to the shop allows us to properly say goodbye to our beloved Vince and, in doing so, move forward with full hearts and hopes.

That is what Vince would have wanted for us, so that is what we shall do.

Inquiries can be directed to Robbie Matusich (408) 531-5542 / [email protected]

Weekend street closure is in effect Friday night and all day this weekend! Put on a mask, come enjoy the great weather (and clean air) that we’re having, and grab a table downtown!

One well distanced musician will be plugged in next to Rocket Fizz from 6-8pm tonight and Saturday night.

This will be our last weekend of having the road closed for restaurant seating and outdoor shopping. On Monday, the road will be closed during the day to have barriers for our new parklets installed. On Tuesday, potted plants will join the traffic rails to soften the look. The parklets will look a lot better than the temporary barriers in place now.

Our weekend road closure is in effect this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Downtown Campbell. The street will be opened for outdoor dining and pedestrian traffic on Fridays and weekends until the installation of our parklets are completed.

Put on a mask and come join us for some socially distanced shopping and outdoor fun this weekend.

On August 31st, as part of the new State of California Blueprint for a Safer Economy framework, barber shops and salons were allowed to resume offering most indoor services. All of our barber shops and salons have followed suit and are now back in service with safety modifications. Some are continuing to offer outdoor haircuts in addition to outdoors services so be sure to ask about that if you're not comfortable with going indoors for a haircut.

As part of the new risk framework, there is also a new system of risk tiers. In Santa Clara County, we've been showing improvement in our infection rates. As a result we've progressed from Tier 1 - Widespread, which is the worst designation into Tier 2 - Substantial. As a result of our improved numbers businesses are now allowed to do the following:

• All personal care services can now operate indoors (nails, skin care, massage, etc)
• The maximum number of people allowed in retail shops will be relaxed to allow twice as many people as before.
• Gyms and personal training services can operate indoors at 10% capacity.
• Museums are allowed to open at 25% capacity.

Keep in mind that just about all services that you were used to are required to be performed with additional precautions and some services will not be available due to the safety risk that they present. Also Santa Clara County excludes some activities that are allowed in the State of California's guidelines. One notable example is that indoor dining at 25% capacity is not allowed as a Tier 2 activity here.

The Blueprint for a Safer Economy

The new State of California Covid-19 framework replaces the previous County Monitoring List guidelines with revised plan that's simpler and easier to understand. Much of the guidance remains the same, but a few restrictions have been relaxed based on improved understanding of where the real transmission risks lie.

The Blueprint for a Safer Economy is guided by just two numbers:

• Number of new cases per day per 100K people.
• Percent of positive tests returned.

Every week, counties are reassessed and placed into one of four risk tier based on these two metrics and as numbers rise and fall, the kind of activities and how much of those activities are allowed changes. Counties that regress into more severe tiers will have another week to turn things around to avoid having to shut some services down again.

We're all part of this. If we stop being careful and start making riskier choices, we're going to backslide and it's going to hurt our small businesses. We may have graduated to Tier 2, but only by the slimmest of margins. It would be easy to slip back to Tier 1 very quickly so please please please keep...Read More

You may have noticed that the street in Downtown Campbell's been opened again. Yes, this does mean that the street closure experiment is coming to an end, but not entirely.

After doing this for a bit over a month, the City of Campbell in consultation with the community of small businesses in Downtown Campbell deemed the road closure to be too detrimental for some of the businesses, but we're not giving up on creating more opportunities expand outdoor options. Instead of having the road either closed or open, we're going with a hybrid approach with parklets. These are parking spaces transformed into outdoor seating areas.

It will take about three weeks for all the barriers needed to get the parklets in place to be installed. In the meantime, the street will be open Mondays through Thursdays and be closed on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

This means that until further notice, the road closure will be in effect on Fridays and weekends. As soon as the parklets have been fully installed, Campbell Ave. will again be open to traffic seven days a week.

The parklets will be kept in place for a minimum of three months, but would likely continue indefinately if everything goes well.

We know this news comes as a disappointment to many of you out there and we're sorry that we couldn't continue it for you, but the City of Campbell is taking everything it learned from the month long road closure experiment and applying it to this new effort to give it a much better chance of working out for everyone.

Also, we've been very pleased with how much improved you've all been about following safety guidelines since we started the road closure. Most people in Downtown Campbell are now wearing masks and wearing them correctly. We will need you to keep doing that so more people feel safe to visit us and maintain the vitality of this downtown.