Design firm veers into retail
Melanie Pizzonia moved into her northeast Albuquerque storefront last fall without any plans for a store.
Instead, she envisioned the onetime bakery as some much-needed office and warehouse space for her design business. Having previously handled a mounting list of residential and commercial jobs out of her own home, she planned to use the new digs to meet with clients, and to store sofas, rugs and other tools of her trade.
But when a key staff member suggested Pizzonia take advantage of the location’s position along busy Osuna Boulevard and create a small store for walk-in customers, she agreed.
But a little bit wasn’t quite enough. The store demanded more space. And then some more. “We just got busier. We just started with a little bit of (retail at the front) and we just kept opening it toward the back,” she says.
A modest array of furniture displayed near the shop’s unassuming front door has since ballooned into a retail inventory thousands of items strong. Following the most recent expansion, the store now commands 3,500 square feet.
Displayed in vignettes throughout the store, the assortment includes the likes of couches, occasional chairs, desks and other better-budget-for-that items — like the dazzling, $3,125 floor lamp featuring an enclosed chandelier. But it also includes a smorgasbord of other pieces that can dress up a dining table or blank wall without draining a wallet.
That means mirrors and candle holders. Vases and accent pillows. And — at the moment — oodles of Christmas decor, from a hand-carved nativity set Pizzonia picked up in Ecuador to the oversized, shiny orbs hanging from the shop’s seven Christmas trees.
Pizzonia says opening a retail store “wasn’t anything that crossed my mind.” But the idea took off because customers responded. Her design clients like to see, feel and test the furniture they’re ordering, while walk-in patrons have seemed to appreciate the varied selection, whether shopping for a pièce de résistance for their living room or picking out some silver napkin weights for the holiday dinner table.
Exquisite Design also carries some gift-type items, like colorful luggage tags and key chains, some of which can be bought for less than $20.
“I try to buy things I don’t think you can find most places here,” says Pizzonia, who attends various markets around the U.S. and has also brought back pieces from her own world travels. “That’s my main criteria — they have to be interesting, unique, beautiful.”
Exquisite Design Home Furnishings is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and by appointment. You’ll find it at 3700 Osuna NE, west of Jefferson. The phone number is 433-3971.
It’s (almost) show time!
Metro-area moviegoers will have another place to watch those big holiday releases — Carmike Cinemas will open its new South Valley multiplex this month.
The new 12-screen theater at the Las Estancias development has scheduled its grand opening for Dec. 17. (It will host a soft-opening charity event on Dec. 16 to benefit El Ranchito de Los Niños with $2 tickets, popcorn and sodas.)
At nearly 47,000 square feet, the theater has approximately 2,500 seats spread across its 12 auditoriums, including about 480 for its IMAX screen.
The South Valley venue marks Carmike’s first foray into the Albuquerque market, though the Georgia chain already has a presence in 41 states, including New Mexico with an existing Artesia location.
Tom Wilkinson, Carmike’s director of real estate, says the area near Coors and Rio Bravo was ripe for such a project.
“We identified this site some time ago and we felt this particular market was under-served in the theatergoing public,” he says. “We’re very excited to be part of the Las Estancias project. That entire project down there is just phenomenal. It worked out for us and we’re really excited to get this open.”
Wilkinson says the new theater will show firstrun movies and offer a particularly robust menu at its concession stand, from popcorn to pizza and chicken fingers.
Carmike joins a growing lineup at Las Estancias, which already includes tenants such as Dion’s and Planet Fitness.
Local shop excels on ‘Sugar Showdown’
Cupcake creativity helped an Albuquerque bakery get some national TV exposure and $10,000.
Cake Fetish owner Kendall Harris and her assistant Johanna Stone recently appeared on the Cooking Channel’s “Sugar Showdown,” where they outbaked two other teams en route to a $10,000 prize.
The Albuquerque shop Kendall Harris of Albuquerque’s Cake Fetish, center, recently baked her way to victory as a competitor on the Cooking Channel’s “Sugar Showdown.” — founded in 2006 and owned by Harris since 2011 — made it out of the episode’s first round by cleverly deploying the episode’s mystery ingredient, balsamic vinegar. Harris and Stone prepared a dark chocolate balsamic cake, filled it with a raspberry balsamic blend and topped it with mascarpone vanilla whipped-cream frosting.
The duo then sealed their victory in the finals, acing a “cocktail party” challenge by producing a rose water mimosa cupcake and a white chocolate strawberry limoncello cupcake.
“It was crazy,” Harris recalls of the shoot, which took place over the summer in Canada. “You didn’t know what (the challenge) was going to be. It took you by surprise and you had to game plan and you’re in an unfamiliar kitchen, so that’s stressful. And you have your time constraints.
“But we went with an attitude we were going to win no matter what.”
Cake Fetish has reproduced its winning cupcakes for local fans to try a few times already. Harris says she plans to make them on a rotating basis moving forward, especially since fans will keep rediscovering them during “Sugar Showdown” reruns. As for the $10,000? “We’re using it to put back into the business — and after you pay taxes and stuff, it’s not the whole $10,000,” she says with a laugh.
Cake Fetish is located at 2665 Louisiana NE, at Menaul.
Farewell, India Kitchen
Albuquerque will lose a little bit of its spice come Dec. 12.
That’s the last day at India Kitchen, a longtime Duke City dinner destination.
Ajay Gupta, who owns the restaurant with wife Rajul, says they’ve been running the business together since 1982 — all but the first year in their current space at Montgomery and Louisiana NE — and they’re ready to retire. They considered selling the business, but didn’t have any concrete offers.
Gupta says the decision to move on has been met with sadness from customers, the majority of whom have been regulars for years.
“The reactions have been pretty emotional,” he says. “A lot have been coming to us since we opened. They were kind of a family. There have been a lot of tears and emotions expressed but, at the same time, it has been bittersweet for our customers, too — they’re happy that we’re (retiring).”
The 50-seat restaurant will continue with normal operating hours until the final day. That means 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
The restaurant is located at 6910 Montgomery NE.