Business Beat: Espresso de Arte changes location

Bob Quick | The New Mexican

5/19/2008 - 5/20/08

Espresso de Arte, a familiar coffeehouse at Villa Linda Mall — now called Santa Fe Place — for 15 years, is now in a new and much larger location in the St. Michael's Village shopping center.

"It's the old Thrifty Nickel," said Emilio Pincheira, who owns the business with his mother and father, Rene and Elena Pincheira. "We remodeled it. Our intention is to make it a hot spot."

The business is at 1722 St. Michael's Drive, behind Mucho and diagonally across the parking lot from Lowe's Super Save supermarket.

The larger space — 1,200 square feet — allows not only for a coffee bar but also for video games and a pool table that Emilio Pincheira expects to be used mainly by younger customers.

"We want to go to the schools" and tell them about the place, he said. "I told my Dad I wanted to do something for the kids."

Emilio Pincheira will be working with a childhood friend, Diego Gonzales, an artist who will be putting on art shows very soon.

"We're getting ready to start our first show within the next two weeks," Gonzales said. "We plan to have a little exhibit over here of artists who are disabled." That will be with the help of Phame, a Santa Fe charitable nonprofit.

In addition, "we want to have poetry slam competitions," Emilio Pincheira said.

In addition to coffee and tea, Espresso de Arte offers sandwiches, pastries and bagels.

The shop is open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. Saturdays.

For more information, call 316-6987.


At least one business can be said to have been hurt by Santa Fe's minimum-wage ordinance, and that's Matt Hannifin's Science Toy Magic, which closed Feb. 29. It was located at Sanbusco Market Center.

In a letter published The New Mexican, Hannifin said paying the mandated $9.50 an hour to even untrained workers hurt his business so much he had to close down.

"My employees lost jobs. I lost investment and two decades of largely 74-hour work weeks of sweat equity," Hannifin said.

Now that he's out of the retail business, Hannifin said he is involved in developing various inventions and is seeking problems that could be solved by the innovative thinking he can bring to the table.

Hannifin is asking people to fax or write a letter to him with a description of a problem they have or have observed and also agree to buy the invention that solves the problem.

Hannifin's experience includes teaching college, fiber-optical research, designing laser-show equipment and installing holograms. He's also a boomerang expert.

Those with questions may reach Hannifin by fax at 505-820-7264 or by mail at 369 Montezuma Ave., No. 310, Santa Fe, N.M. 87501.

Call 986-3011 or e-mail bobquick@sfnewmexican.com.