There are many things that await you in Downtown Stockton: a stunning new hairstyle, a vibrant plant, an intricate tattoo, and a delicious meal, to name a few. Now, with the addition of The Beauty Base, a new esthetic shop nestled in Suite G on 222 N. El Dorado Street, there’s a new reason to visit downtown: facials! With the adamant belief that, “your natural features are your best features,” The Beauty Base is ready to help you enhance your natural looks through skin, body, and waxing treatments.

Meet Owner Natalie Navarro

At only 21 years old, Natalie Navarro is one of the youngest entrepreneurs to own a brick and mortar business in Downtown Stockton. Despite her age, Natalie has amassed significant experience and training in the field of esthetics. She previously worked as a licensed lash artist, took extensive classes with Dermologica to become an expert with their brand and products, and became licensed as an esthetician in summer of last year after graduating from Paul Mitchell Beauty School in Modesto, California. Natalie shares, “before I became licensed, I always had thoughts of becoming an esthetician but was afraid of spending so much money on something I thought would’ve been just a hobby. But I took that risk and went after being a student at Delta College for two years.” 

After working with different beauty-focused companies like Amazing Lash and being home-based for a period of time, Natalie decided to expand her services to skin treatments and waxing. She received offers to work with other companies, but said they, “never felt right.” Instead, she decided to take the plunge and open her very own brick and mortar. Natalie’s genuine passion and dedication for esthetics shines through as she describes The Beauty Base, and even with her prior experience, she is adamant about, “working to further my education about skin whenever I have the chance to.”

Why Downtown Stockton?

After she decided to open her own shop, Natalie immediately knew she wanted to stay local—after all, she was born and raised in Stockton and lovingly shares that, “Stockton is home.” She adds, “being downtown was a bonus!” While hunting for the perfect home for The Beauty Base, she came across the available space on El Dorado Street and, “instantly fell in love and got the space immediately afterwards. After that I had a blank canvas to work with and I just love how everything came out. I look forward to work every single day and I can’t wait for what’s to come in the future for The Beauty Base!” 

The Downtown area is also very nostalgic for Natalie. She fondly recalls visiting the downtown movie theater with her family while growing up and says, “I would have never thought that I’d have a place over here.” When it comes to the downtown community, she shares, “I just love it. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming.” In October of 2020, the The Beauty Base officially opened its doors!

What Makes Beauty Base Unique?

Not only is The Beauty Base the only esthetics shop in the area, but there are several features that make this particular esthetics shop unique. Along with typical treatments like body/face waxing and facials, Beauty Base also offers Vajacials, which is a Brazilian wax followed by a soothing skin treatment for the area. Natalie shares that many clients have expressed their surprise and delight for this treatment, and that its one of the most popular services they offer.

Additionally, services are very tailored to clients based on their specific needs. Since many clients tend to be unsure about which treatments would work best for them, The Beauty Base will, “formulate a [specific] treatment,” based on their hair and skin type. For instance, The Beauty Base offers various types of wax—some are better for coarse hair, and some are better for fine hair. By offering tailored sessions lasting 30 or 60 minutes, the The Beauty Base eliminates any potential uncertainty and gives clients the best treatment possible. Learn more about their services on their website. 

Esthetic shops tend to have more female clients, but don’t be shy, men! The Beauty Base is ready to welcome you with open arms for brow waxing, or any other service you’d like!

Favorite Places Downtown to Grab a Bite and a Coffee?

“I’m not biased!” Natalie says with a laugh as she shares that her favorite places to eat and grab coffee are right around the corner from her new shop, just a short walking distance away. Nash + Tender is a favorite for her and her boyfriend, and they find themselves visiting the hot chicken joint, “like crazy,” (we don’t blame them!). Empresso Coffeehouse is their favorite place to get coffee, to the point where it, “feels weird not going there” in the mornings.

Natalie adds that she’s looking forward to trying more eateries downtown, and notes that many of her customers have recommended Misaki to her – luckily, that’s also a short walk away!

Make sure to follow The Beauty Base on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on specials, services, and to join in on any giveaways they may have in the future. Oh, and don’t forget to visit their website to book your next appointment—gotta look fresh for the holidays! 

Visiting downtown now comes with an additional perk: a new coffee shop in the heart of downtown’s Courthouse Plaza called Plaza Perks! Established by Parents By Choice, a nonprofit agency with the mission of bringing hope and healing to children, youth, and their families, the café does more than serve delicious coffee and refreshing drinks: it provides foster youth with work experience and job opportunities by not only employing them, but by creating and maintaining a positive environment for them to strengthen their work and social skills.

We’re excited for this new addition to the downtown community, so we spoke with Plaza Perks manager, Cynthia Buenrostro, to learn more about the café with a heart for foster youth.  

Meet Cynthia

Cynthia Buenrostro is Plaza Perks’ enthusiastic manager with a passion for helping foster youth. Her previous experiences working in cafés and restaurants made her a perfect fit to manage the new café. She shares that the reason Plaza Perks opened was to, “give former and current foster youth job skills and employment opportunities and to serve up good coffee in the area.” It’s especially important that these opportunities are available for foster youth, because it can be challenging for them to gain work experience and job skills before aging out of the foster care system. Cynthia further explains that they, “need to learn to interact,” and “gain some confidence,” to prepare them for their futures.  

Why Downtown Stockton?

Cynthia believes that Plaza Perks’ presence downtown will, “enrich our community, make a difference,” and, “bring some life to downtown.” However, she admits that prior to the decision to open in Downtown Stockton, she wasn’t too familiar with the area and had no idea what to expect. Fortunately, she quickly realized that she enjoyed “the vibe.” She especially appreciated how supportive and excited the surrounding community was to see a new business opening among them.

Plaza Perks isn’t the only new business to call the Courthouse Plaza home, though. Recently, Parents By Choice also moved their offices and programs into the first and second floors of the building. Learn more about their move here.

What’s On the Menu?

Plaza Perks proudly serves coffee supplied from Cat & Cloud, which they say is, “some of the best quality coffee beans you can find.” Their menu also boasts a variety of options, such as specialty espresso, blended coffee, tea, smoothies and juices, and Lotus drinks. Lotus, Cynthia explains, is a popular drink in the Eastern U.S. that hasn’t yet met widespread popularity in the West- but it’s only a matter of time!

Lotus is a cleaner, healthier energy drink handmade with real fruit juice. Any time you’re feeling tired and in need of some energy (those Monday mornings are the hardest!!), toss out the Red Bull, pop into Plaza Perks, and treat yourself to a Lotus Energy Sparkling Refresher! With flavors like Guava Punch, Pineapple Cloud, Blue Lagoon, and Red Lotus, it’ll be a tough decision (we suggest trying them all!). And oh, did we mention they also have Grab & Go breakfast, lunches, AND a seasonal drink menu (Frankenstein Lotus, anyone?). As if their drinks didn’t already sound like a good enough reason to drop by, Cynthia shares that Plaza Perks emanates a, “really fun environment; we want to make you feel like a friend when you walk in!”

So the next time you’re craving coffee, tea, a Lotus Energy Sparkling Refresher, or even some friendly conversation, pop into Plaza Perks and know that you’re not just supporting local businesses, but local foster youth, too.

Don’t forget to follow Plaza Perks on Facebook and Instagram to be the first to know about their new drinks and special offers!

“The power of service!” is the slogan proudly displayed at Success Ink, a full service copy and print center in Downtown Stockton. Their unwavering commitment to these words are undeniable, as 2020 marks the 20th year Success Ink has been in operation! To celebrate this remarkable milestone, we sat down with Curtis Boone, owner of Success Ink, to learn more about him and his business. 

Meet Curtis Boone

Although a longtime resident of Stockton, Curtis is originally from Torrance, a city located in Southern California. In 1996, he moved north to settle into Stockton, where his mother owned Mitchell’s BBQ right here in Downtown Stockton. Fun Fact: Mitchell’s BBQ was located at 19 N. California Street, in the building The Deliberation Room currently occupies. 

Why A Printing Business?

During his time working at Mitchell’s BBQ, Curtis learned how to create business cards, flyers, and other promotional material for the restaurant. This is where he developed a passion for graphic design (which he explains used to be referred to as “desktop publishing”). This sparked the realization that he “enjoyed that [graphic design] more than restauranting.” He started off enjoying graphic design, but expanded the idea to a print shop once he realized there was a lack of printing services downtown. After the family sold Mitchell’s BBQ, Curtis opened Success Ink at 502 E. Weber Ave in February 2000.

When asked why Curtis decided to continue running a business in the downtown area rather than anywhere else, he shares with us a few reasons. First, it was a convenient location! After all, he already knew the area well. In addition, he could run Success Ink for a great price! Compared to his Southern California hometown, running a business was a lot cheaper in Stockton. In Stockton, there is, “room for you to grow, you just need consistency.”

Twenty Years of Service

There’s another important “20” in 2020- the 20 Year Anniversary of Success Ink! Curtis and the Success Ink team hoped to have a celebration in February, but unfortunately, these plans were put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because they’re an essential service, Success Ink has been open throughout the entire pandemic and will continue to have their doors open Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. Once the pandemic ends, they will revert back to their regular hours. 

Success Ink is a full service copy and print center, where you’re even able to print directly from your smartphone (talk about convenient)! They also print various promotional items, including but not limited to posters, brochures, business cards, and banners. If you need assistance designing these materials, Success Ink also offers graphic design services! Gone is the need to spend countless hours confused in photoshop trying to piece together the perfect flyer for your business (we know how this feels).

What Do You Like Most About Downtown?

When it comes to what Curtis likes most about downtown, it doesn’t take him any time to name his favorite restaurant: Thai Thai Restaurant (which he accompanies with an enthusiastic, “I love Thai food!). Curtis also enjoys the people downtown and commends the work of organizations like the Downtown Stockton Alliance (thanks for the shout out, Curtis!) and Visit Stockton. Curtis also loves to support other local businesses and is “always eager to find new places.”

So the next time you’re in need of print services, you can expect the best quality and service from Success Ink!

Visit their website for a full description of their services, and follow their Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on special deals and more!

Passionate about plants? Then you’re not going to beLEAF this—Downtown Stockton is welcoming FarOut Foliage, a new shop for plant enthusiasts searching for beautiful, rare and unique plants! If you’re not a plant person, don’t worry—they’ll definitely GROW on you. BRANCH out during your downtown excursions and add FarOut Foliage to your list of shops to visit (sorry about the plant puns, we think they’re really FERNY.) 🙂

Meet Netzel Huffhines, Plant Extraordinaire

Netzel Huffhines, the enthusiastic and friendly owner of FarOut Foliage, is passionate about sharing her love of plants with others. Her love for greenery was sparked years ago after her husband gifted her a Lucky Bamboo plant—this was the plant that started it all. Since then, she’s amassed an impressive personal collection of nearly 300 different plants!

Before moving the shop to Downtown Stockton earlier this year, Netzel managed her own FarOut Foliage Kiosk at the Weberstown Mall. It was here that she realized there were, “so many plant people in Stockton—I can’t believe it!” She shared that there was “always a really good vibe around my [her] kiosk,” and she was successfully able to build a supportive clientele base during her time there.

Even though Netzel’s husband raises his eyebrows from time to time at Netzel sneaking more plants into their home, she lovingly shares that he was the one who encouraged her to start FarOut Foliage. The idea grew on her (no pun intended here) because with the exception of floral shops, “Stockton has little to nothing when it comes to plants.” She also acknowledged the current plant craze trend, with millennials making up a large percentage of emerging plant enthusiasts (succulents, anyone?). So, Netzel decided to create, “a place where you can find plants—rare plants.”

Why Downtown Stockton?

Netzel was aware of efforts to revitalize Downtown Stockton, and thought to herself, “I totally want to be part of this movement!” She decided to bring her vibrant shop downtown and become part of the Downtown Stockton community. Her green shop will add a new and exciting pop of color and plant life to downtown.

Located at 239 Market St., Netzel intended to open FarOut Foliage on April 3rd, but the COVID-19 Pandemic changed these plans. Now that restrictions have started to lift, she’s planning on opening up the shop soon, but an official date has yet to be determined! Make sure to follow FarOut Foliage on Instagram (@Farout_Foliage) to stay updated on the date of their grand opening!

What Makes FarOut Foliage unique?

Whether you’re a plant pro or a new plant parent, all are welcome at FarOut Foliage! Netzel views every client as a friend and loves to connect with others who adore plants just as much as she does. She’s excited to share tips and tricks to successfully growing and maintaining the beautiful green corners in your home (or in your backyard.. or in your front yard). Netzel’s plants are so in demand that she’s recently been fulfilling numerous orders for Eucalyptus plants. If you’re a beginner, she suggests that you start out with a little one first!

How can we support FarOut Foliage during this time?

Until FarOut Foliage officially opens, the best way to support this new business is by following a couple social media accounts! Learn more about unique plant species Netzel shares on Instagram at @FarOut_Foliage, and place plant orders at FaroutFoliageUS on etsy.com.

Whether you want to own your very own cactus, eucalyptus, succulent, or something a little more daring—drop by FarOut Foliage to add or start your green collection—we’re ROOTING for you!