By Community Impact Newspaper StaffFriday, 22 October 2010

Austin Pets Alive, a local nonprofit dedicated to helping make Austin a no-kill city, now has its first APA Adoption and Resource Center at 2805 Manchaca Road on the corner of South Lamar Boulevard. The center will allow for an increase in adoptions and serve as a facility for medical care and community involvement. “As we get donations in, we will be bringing more and more pets to the site for adoption and making the facility better,” said Gretchen Meyer, an APA volunteer. Hours pending. Visit www.austinpetsalive.org.

Providing yoga classes for all ages and ability levels, Oak Hill Yoga teaches viniyoga techniques adapted for the group or individual. “Our classes take into

1. Yoli Hair Salon, a new full-service hair salon, opened at 11600 Manchaca Road, Ste. E. Owned by Yolanda Rodriguez, the salon is open Mon.”Sat. 10 a.m.”7 p.m. and Sun. after 3 p.m. by appointment only. Call 494-5560.

2. Steve Doss, owner of Premier Martial Arts, opened his second fitness facility called Impact MMA Fitness at 3601 W. William Cannon Drive, Ste. 50. The gym is an alternative fitness club that focuses on fitness with mixed martial arts training. It is open seven days a week 6 a.m.”10 p.m. Call 671-0012 or visit www.impactmmafitness.com.

3. Vivero Growers, a new plant nursery owned by Katherine and Michael Cain that specializes in hard-to-find plants and trees, opened at 1200 A Hwy. 290 W. in time for the fall season. “We specialize in large specimen citrus and palms, hard-to-find natives such as golden ball lead tree and native Texas madrone, as well as new varieties of dyckia, echeveria and agaves,” Michael Cain said. Open all week 8 a.m.”6 p.m. Call 587-4476 or visit www.viverogrowers.com.

Nationwide franchise, Baby Safe Homes, which offers professional baby proofing, opened in Austin. Owner Danny Kozelsky provides services for the surrounding area. Appointments are available by phone with same-day consultations and installations. Call 983-7233 or visit www.babysafehomes.com.

Austin residents Betty Reeves and Wendi Louk launched their new online boutique, Collegiate Mommy, in late August, just in time for football season. “We cater to the off-campus professional woman,” Reeves said. Offering women’s and children’s clothing and accessories, Reeves has apparel for UT, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, OU and OSU. Visit www.collegiatemommy.com.

4. Kicking off the fall season, Don’s Grass and Landscape has opened its seasonal pumpkin patch at 6240 Hwy. 290 W. offering a variety of pumpkins. Open daily from 8 a.m. ’til at least 6 p.m., the pumpkins will be for sale until late November. Call 892-5620.

5. Zorba Greek Diner’s second location is now open at the Grove at South Park Meadow at 9600 S. I-35, Ste. 200. The Greek restaurant is open Mon.”Thu. 9 a.m.”10 p.m., Fri.”Sat. 11 a.m.”11 p.m. and Sun. 11 a.m.”9 p.m. Call 291-5050 or visit www.zorbagreekrestauranttx.food.officelive.com.

After finding it difficult to locate activities for daughter Larissa in Austin, Parker and Christina Ragain launched the website Rissa’s List in September. The Web resource helps parents looking for family-friendly businesses and activities. In addition to calendar listings, the website provides a discussion forum, a section for finding restaurants where children can eat free and listings for movies, child care centers and healthcare providers. A mobile version of the website is also available. Visit www.rissaslist.com.

6. HomeGoods will open Oct. 24 in the Sunset Valley Market Fair, 5406 Brodie Lane. This is the first Austin area location for the company, which has 300 stores throughout the country. The discount furniture and interior dcor retailer will be in the former Circuit City building. Mon.”Sat., 9:30 a.m.”9:30 p.m. and Sun. 11 a.m.”8 p.m. Call 892-0486 or visit www.homegoods.com.

7. Local pet supplies business Tomlinson’s Feed & Pets will open a new location in Escarpment Village at 5900 W. Slaughter Lane, Ste. 480 in late November. Owned by Scott and Renae Click, the local shop began as a chick hatchery in 1946 and has developed into a premium pet supplies and food store but still offers a small amount of livestock feed as well. There are five other locations in the Austin area. Call 633-6004 or visit www.tomlinsons.com.

8. European Wax Center, a national chain of personal body waxing centers, will open a new location in Escarpment Village in November at 5800 W. Slaughter Lane, Ste. 320. For more information or to join the grand opening guest list, visit www.waxcenter.com or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

9. The national dentist brand Castle Dental, a part of Smile Brands network dental offices, is opening a new location in late October at 5000 W. Slaughter Lane Bldg. 2, Stes. 203 and 204. Call 652-5600 or visit www.castledental.com.

10. Chuy’s Bakery is opening its second bakery location this December at 801 W. William Cannon Drive in the Century South Shopping Center. The bakery, owned by Jesus “Chuy” Guevara, offers breads, galletas, tortas, breakfast tacos and other homemade treats. Call the other bakery location 374-9910 for more information.

11. Lions & Tigers & Toys, a local specialty toy and bookstore, will be opening in spring of 2011 at 4301 W. William Cannon Drive, Ste. 220 in The Shops at Arbor Trails. Stacy Winegar says she offers unique and educational toys and books for children.

12. Physician’s Way Medical Weight Management, owned by husband and wife physician team Drs. Richard Kelley and Sherrill Kelley, is celebrating its fifth anniversary and has undergone a rebranding of the business. The weight-management clinic, located at 2416-B S. Lamar Blvd., focuses on teaching dietary, lifestyle and fitness concepts to create a change for patients. Sherrill does onsite personal fitness training, and Richard was recently awarded certification by the American Board of Bariatric Medicine. Call 440-1800 or visit www.physiciansway.com.

13. National fast-food chain Arby’s closed its location at 110B E. William Cannon Drive. Call 462-3100 or visit www.arbys.com.

15. Cathedral of Junk, created and owned by Vince Hannemann, now has a building permit from the City of Austin that allows visitors to safely visit the art installation located at 4422 Lareina Drive. Hannemann said volunteers and architects helped him remove 30 tons of steel out of the cathedral, and it now has 40 to 50 tons of everything from steel bars to bicycles shaped into towers.

The City of Austin’s Grant for Technology Opportunities Program is now providing grant funding to area organizations that aim to use digital technologies. A total of $150,000 in grants will be awarded to organizations that meet the criteria set by grant reviewers. Organizations can apply at www.gtops.org by Dec. 2. Previous projects funded by the grant include a computer lab for at-risk youth and computer classes for non-native English speakers and the elderly.

The Paramount Theatre won a $25,000 grant as a result of the This Place Matters Community Challenge. The challenge was part of a national voting process where up to 55,000 people cast their votes for what historic venue they wanted to see receive funds to help preserve its character. The Paramount Theatre received 14 percent of the overall support with a total of 7,862 supporters. Call 472-5470 or visit www.austintheatre.org.

16. Solomon Tax Services closed its office at 3301 Northland Dr., Ste 307 and opened a new office at 4801 Southwest Parkway, Bldg. 1, Ste. 100. The company has also employed a new director of tax services, Cameron Hollis, to head up its new product, Taxelope, which is a service that provides monthly bookkeeping, digital receipt storage and tax returns for year-end. Call 458-2274 or visit www.taxelope.com.

Lisa Gaynor plans to move Design It with Consignment from 4211 S. Lamar Blvd., Ste. A-23 to Northwest Austin sometime before the end of the year. The new 10,000-square-foot location for the furniture consignment shop will be more than twice as big and will be located at 3301 Steck Ave. The store offers consignments of upscale home furnishings and interior design for everyday living and to help homes appeal to prospective buyers or renters. Open Tue.”Sat. 10 a.m.”6 and Sun. noon”5 p.m. Call 301-9800 or visit www.designitconsignment.com.

17. Dawn Rush Dotson, owner and loan officer of Onion Creek Mortgage, opened a new location at 4801 Southwest Parkway, Bldg. 1, Ste 100. The local company has been in business for 14 years. Call 280-6571 or visit www.onioncreek.com.