By 8 a.m., Telly’s Charburgers is already bustling with activity, as employees prepare for the day and begin filling early-morning orders.
The longtime Santa Clarita staple finally reopened after being closed for more than 15 months while waiting for the newly built Skyline Ranch Plaza to be completed.
Though the coronavirus pandemic stalled many businesses, Nicole Koutes, one of the owners of the family-owned and -operated establishment, said they were able to push through with few delays.
“We did get held up a few days, but there’s always a hold up with construction and opening a new restaurant,” Koutes said.
In the days since reopening, a line of cars could be seen snaking the parking lot, and by day two, Koutes had already started to lose her voice — an indication of just how busy the restaurant has been.
“We’re really busy right now, so I’m just encouraging people to order online or through the drive thru,” Koutes added.
Though the restaurant had outgrown its kitchen more than a dozen years ago, Telly’s had been at its Bouquet Canyon Road location for 29 years, so while bittersweet, the move was certainly needed, owner Cynthia Koutes-Hardy said in a previous Signal interview.
“Of course there’s things to work out, but we really like it,” Koutes said, referring to the restaurant’s new, 2,500-square-foot location.
Telly’s is one of several businesses coming to the plaza, including a Shell gas station, Guidepost Montessori, C’est L’amour Nail, SCV Cleaners, The Bar Method, Carbon Fit Lab, Del Taco, and Starbucks, among others.
The new, mixed development is located on the corner of Plum Canyon Road and Skyline Ranch Road, giving Plum Canyon residents much-anticipated shopping and dining options nearby.
Also coming to the plaza in mid-July is Salonworks Studio, a community of independently-owned, private salon studios.
“Our building will house 22 studios for any professionals from the beauty and wellness industry to rent out so that they can have their own businesses,” owner Darlene David said. “That includes anyone from hair stylists, estheticians, nail, eyebrows, eyelashes, massage therapists, tanning salons and even barbers.”
David said they chose the new construction so they could make the location their own, adding their own style and flair. Studios range in size from standard to triple occupancy, with some even including private patios.
“Plum Canyon is the newest neighborhood in Santa Clarita, we saw that this is the first big plaza within that community, so we definitely saw the demand for it on that side of the valley,” she added.
This is the Santa Clarita resident’s first location, and she said she’s looking forward to serving the local community with the unique salon studio concept.
“Being residents whose families live here, we really are just local businesses owners looking forward to supporting our fellow local business owners,” David said.
After opening its first location in Newhall 2015, The Sweat Shack, a sauna sweat boutique, is excited to be opening its second location in the plaza as a franchise model for the expanding company in July.
“At the moment, we are in discussions (with potential franchisees) in at least six different states, and we’ve got a long list of other interested people, so we’re going to be growing very quickly across the nation,” said Kate Pitner, chief branding officer at The Sweat Shack.
With their first location being in an older building in downtown Newhall, Pitner said they needed a newer location they could mold to fit their business model, which is why they chose the plaza.
“We love our Newhall location because it’s just so charming, but we needed a duplicatable system for a franchise, so the Skyline Ranch location is going to be our franchise model flagship store,” Pitner added.
Founded in 2015 by Mark and Jenifer Felan, their motivation has always been to share the health benefits of heat therapy and will continue to be as more locations begin opening.
Like many working moms, Jenifer Felan lived a high-stress lifestyle, juggling family, work and fitness, on top of struggling with numerous autoimmune disorders.
Once she discovered the healing benefits of infrared heat, she began sharing her in-house sauna with friends, quickly realizing she needed to open a place.
Now more than ever, as keeping your body healthy and strong becomes a focus amid the pandemic, Pitner says the benefits of sweating are even more prevalent.
