Goldfish, aquariums, reptiles and hot tubs. One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just isn't the same.
All of these things can be found at Balanced Aquarium in the Valley West Shopping Center in Arcata, Calif.
Balanced Aquarium isn't alone in this business model. All over Humboldt County businesses carry products that may not seem to go together.
Don's Doughnuts, once a simple 24-hour doughnut shop, now carries curry pizza. Spotlight Video in Arcata has a tanning bed.
Barney Mahan, a 75-year-old Arcata local, has been going to Don's Doughnuts for over 25 years. He remembers when the 24-hour shop only had doughnuts. They later started selling bagels, cigarettes, ice cream and egg roles and most recently, pizza.
The owner, Kim Chum, started making pizzas and having people try them.
"People liked them, and came back," Mahan said. "It doesn't really go with doughnuts but it works." He is supposed to be on a diet but he still comes in for the pizza and pastries. "I'm always telling [Chum], 'you're going to have to think of something else to sell'."
English major Emily Hatch works at Arcata Pizza and Deli. "People need pizza at four in the morning, and APD closes at one," she said, so it's a good thing Don's serves Pizza now. No matter what time of day it is, APD doesn't carry curry or shrimp topped pies like the kind Chum churns out.
Mystery solved on that one. The pizza tasted good, so they started selling it. Another mystery lies in the choice to remove the adult video section at Spotlight Video to bring in a tanning bed.
Spotlight employee and Virginia native Brian Swan said, "There's no connection - it's almost like there are two businesses here." Swan said the selection at The Pleasure Center dwarfed Spotlight's adult video section, so the management brought in tanning beds.
The room is bare except for a giant spacey looking silver bed, some pictures on the walls of bronze beauties and a paper with all the employee's scores from the American Tanning Institute.
2008 Woodie Awards
