Local Restaurants Adjacent to State Farm Mourn Loss of Business

Officially, State Farm is consolidating its 300,000 square-foot Rohnert Park facility. But, to the people who live and work in Rohnert Park — it might as well be called a closure.

The upshot is, dollars spent by State Farm employees — at area restaurants during lunch hour, at the grocery store right across the street State Farm, even at the post office and the nail spa in the neighboring shopping center — will be a loss to the city's local economy.

Rohnert Park is already suffering vacant storefronts, loss of business and a flailing economic outlook. Codding Enterprises is selling an empty store between Confucius Restaurant and Summit Bank. Around the corner near , a new Verizon Wireless opened. Local store owners say it's nothing out of the ordinary for a business to fail in less than a year.

Compounding the loss of business, a handful of nearby restaurant owners say up to half of their weekday business could be lost because of State Farm leaving town.

"During lunch hours, State Farm makes up about 50 percent of our business," said Trevor Trujillo, assistant manager at , the sandwich shop across the street from State Farm.

Trujillo has been working at Port of Subs for three years. He said there's real value in businesses re-circulating their hard-earned money local economy, because when more money is kept in the community, the city's tax base grows.

"We even offer 10 percent off to local businesses," Trujillo said. "We have to keep the local people who work here coming in."

"I don't know what we're going to do, I mean that's the majority of our customers," he added.

Around the corner, in the same shopping center, Neva Hunt said her coffee shop will also take a big hit.

Hunt opened in 1997. Over the last 13 years, the island of a coffee shop in the middle of the Raley's Town Center parking lot has attracted a loyal following.

Although State Farm employees makes only about 5 percent of her business, Hunt said it's a sad story that's all too familiar.  "To tell you the truth, it's been really hard," she said.

All around her, new business come and go like the wind.

A used bookstore came in, called Bookswanted.com, and didn't even last six months, said Coby Bradshaw, who has been working at Mocha Mama's for 11 years. "There was also an espresso place that closed down, a cell phone place that didn't last, and the Hallmark store that was replaced by Summit Bank," Bradshaw.

"But more importantly," she said, "it's really like we're losing members of our family."

Hunt said she's seen kids grow up while running the coffee shop. She's seen women with cancer go through chemotherapy, then remission. She yelled out the window on a recent day, "your regular white mocha today?" The customer obliged.

The same day, a cyclist pulled up to the drive-through on his bike with his plastic cup. Hunt peered out the 1950's style curtains that hang in the windows surrounding the coffee shack. She filled the man's cup with tea.

From Mocha Mama's, Hunt can see the local Mexican restaurant across the slick blacktop driveway.

Isidro Velasco, 58, opened in 2006.

"This is going to be really bad," Velasco said. "State Farm makes up about 15 to 20 percent of our total business."

Velasco said if he had to guess, he'd say that he sees repeat customers — large tables of 10, 15, 30 people — about three times a week.

"I'm really worried, but all I can do is keep on working," he said.

It was the same story at . Robert Phillips the assistant manager, said State Farm regularly orders pizzas, probably 40 or 50 a week.

And at Confucius Restaurant, next to Raley's, owner Raymond Chan said at least 20 percent of their total business is going to be taken away.

"We see at least four to five tables a day from State Farm, and there are a lot of them who take out to-go orders," Chan said. "I feel bad for the people losing their jobs, and the city for losing that business too."

Meanwhile, back at Mocha Mama's around 2 p.m., Hunt was closing up shop. "It's really sad for our community to see something like that go," she said. "But maybe this is the opportunity to bring some new life in here."