How’s Business Going on the North Shore?

Photo: One of MOZZ Pizza's specialties, the "Speck" includes mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano, arugala, and speck, which is a thinly sliced Italian ham. 

By Justin Adams

For most of Daybreak’s history, SoDa Row has accounted for all of the community’s commercial offerings. But with many new businesses recently opening their doors in the North Shore Village, there’s another option for Daybreak families to go for a variety of goods and services.

I was curious how these newly-opened businesses are doing, so I recently went door-to-door to ask their respective owners/managers.

“The community has supported us really well. Weekends are always busting,” said Blaine Stockman, a manager for MOZZ Pizza, which opened late last year.

An employee for Sukihana Japanese Cuisine echoed that sentiment, saying that they’ve been super busy ever since opening in January.

Speaking of busy openings, you’d be hard-pressed to find a stronger opening day than the one enjoyed by Beard Papa’s last month. The national bakery chain specializing in cream puff desserts opened its new location on the North Shore and saw lines stretching out the doors all day long.

“Oh my gosh, it did not stop until like 9:40 at night, and then our crew was here until midnight cleaning up. It was just a crazy day. It was way beyond our expectations,” said assistant manager Savannah Lindburg.

At Jed's Barbershop, you get more than just a haircut. You get an experience. From their arcade machines and 80's cartoons to entertain the kids, to black and white photography from local photographer Logan Sorenson decorating the walls.

A strong opening doesn’t mean much though, if it’s not followed up by sustained regular business. But that doesn’t appear to be an issue for Beard Papa’s.

“It’s been very steady. We see a lot of families, which is fun. We want to be a fun little hangout area,” said Lindburg, who lives in Daybreak. She thinks that Daybreak has a unique culture of enthusiastically supporting local businesses.

“Whenever a new business opens, it’s so exciting and you just want to go try it out,” she said. “It’s really cool.”

That culture of community support is certainly a big draw for business owners thinking about opening a location in Daybreak. Another one mentioned by nearly every one I talked to was Daybreak’s walkability.

“We wanted to move south to the Daybreak area because we like the community, we like how walkable the area is,” said Tina Nguyen, owner of Jed’s Barbershop, which opened March 2. “It’s a great location. You can grab some food, get a haircut, and do some grocery shopping. We’ve had families bike together to the shop to get haircuts, which is really cool.”

“Daybreak is a very walk-friendly place. So many people will be out for a morning or afternoon walk around the lake and they’ll come in and check us out,” echoed Lindburg.

Rachael Urry is the store manager for Harmon’s and she sees evidence of people doing their grocery shopping without a car all the time.

“I see a lot of strollers. A lot of people will also use golf carts or electric bikes,” she said.

Of course, being optimized for foot traffic can potentially be a double-edged sword. Traditionally, a business located near a major thoroughfare like South Jordan Parkway would want their building to be visible from the road, a form of direct advertising to all the passing motorists. But the design of the North Shore commercial area takes the opposite approach, with Harmon’s being the only business that can easily be seen from the road. All the other businesses’ storefronts lie on Rubicon Road, or on 10460 S, facing the lake. The hope for North Shore business owners is that the visibility to folks who are out on walks or bike rides around the lake proves beneficial enough to make the lack of visibility from the major road worth it.

That can be a riskier gamble during the colder months of the year.

“If it’s really cold or windy, there’s not as much foot traffic, which is mostly what runs this business,” said Stockman.

Sukihana Japanese Cuisine offers dozens of sushi rolls as well as teriyaki dishes, rice bowls, and more.

With that in mind, it’s even more impressive that many of these North Shore businesses have had such great early success, considering that they have not yet been open for a summer season. That’s something they’re eagerly looking forward to, with lots of optimism for warm temperatures bringing in more clients.

It’s easy to envision how that might play out. Imagine a family renting some kayaks to traverse Oquirrh Lake… they reach the North Shore and decide to grab a pizza for lunch to fuel their return journey. So they grab a pie to-go from MOZZ pizza and chow down on the grass by the lake. Then a couple catches a whiff of that pizza as they bike around the lake and decide to go back later that night. Or consider the thousands of people who will attend the weekly food truck night. They might get their main course from a food truck and then decide to get dessert from Beard Papa’s or Chip.

Many of the business owners I talked to also mentioned the synergy between the variety of businesses. Like any good business park, they’re able to complement one another, rather than compete against one another. A Daybreak mom, for example, can take a Pilates class at Tonic Method and then pick up some groceries at Harmon’s. Meanwhile, dad can grab a haircut at Jed’s Barbershop and then grab some sushi for lunch at Sukihana.

With more economic development planned for other areas throughout Daybreak, it’s good to see that so many new businesses are off to a good start on the North Shore. It shows that these smaller commercial areas surrounded by walkable residential communities can work and that Daybreak residents are enthusiastic supporters of local businesses. That will make for a good sales pitch when it comes time for Daybreak and South Jordan to recruit businesses to set up shop in Downtown Daybreak.

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