Tapas Place Coming to Town, Rite Aid Gets a Makeover

To expand the store's mission of being an interactive retail experience in science, the arts, nature, and technology, Oddyssea owner Mike Harding is currently turning the dirt lot next door into an outdoor space for art and science workshops in a garden setting. "The inside space we have is lovely, but it’s simply not practical to have a dozen people working on terrarium projects while the shop is open generally for business," writes Harding to Patch. "So we’d like to be able to run interesting content that visitors can participate in without interfering with the day-to-day operations of the rest of the shop." The new outdoor space will be an open area for artists and craftsmen to display their work and give short tutorials on what they do. A life-size version of a shipwreck with a mast and sails as well as treasures and oddities inspired by the garden and natural sciences will be on display. A soft opening was planned this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but "we probably will dial back a little and prepare for a real spring launch at this point where weather and daylight are our friends rather than enemies," Harding said. The site of construction used to be Quinlan's Blacksmith in the 1880s. "We've found a number of horse shoes, random pieces of metal, and a few broken bottles as we've been working on the trenches for the concrete footers."

REMODELED: Rite Aid, 170 San Mateo Rd, Half Moon Bay

If you haven't been in the store lately, you won't recognize the new Rite Aid when you first step in. First the outdated red signage outside was replaced with a new red, white, and blue Rite Aid sign. Seven weeks later, the entire inside of the store was remodeled and updated with new flooring, signage, and a manageable layout with a new improved wellness center and pharmacy, wine selection like rivals Trader Joe's and check-out counter. Thrifty brand ice cream is still served at a counter in the store.

CLOSING: Hey Jude, 521 Main St, Half Moon Bay

The gift shop and women's clothing store on Main Street, which opened in 2002, is closing their doors for good by the end of 2013. 

MOVED: Strawflower Electronics, 160 San Mateo Rd, Half Moon Bay, Suite D

Strawflower Electronics moved two doors down from their corner location to make better use of a smaller space. The larger square footage in their old space was costing more than their inventory, which they narrowed down by getting rid of older items like cell phones and parts that are not smart phones and some preowned items that were outdated, not selling and taking up too much space. Hassett Hardware across the street on Main may move the paint department into the vacant corner space next door to Strawflower Electronics, according to the owner, but a lease agreement has not been finalized.

BOUGHT: Cunha Country Grocery, 448 Main St., Half Moon Bay

Owner of Cunha market David Khoury officially bought the building at 448 Main St. in downtown Half Moon Bay on Nov. 27 for $2.5 million. Khoury has been running the market since summer 2012. Now that he owns the building, there are plans to make use of the 5,000-square-foot upstairs area but what that will be is yet to be determined. 

Know of a business opening or closing on the Coast? Please tell Patch about it for a future Sprouts & Shutters column. Send a news tip to christa.bigue@patch.com.