BIZ BEAT: New Modesto mall shop sells flip flop footwear

MODESTO -- Here's one of those stores where you don't have to think, "I wonder what it sells?"

Flip Flop Shops opened last week on the lower level of Vintage Faire Mall. Just like it sounds, the store carries only flip flops, the strappy sandal made popular that is ubiquitous in the summer months.

According to a news release, the new shop will carry the "hottest brands and latest styles of flip flops and sandals" from brands that include SANÜK, OluKai, Quiksilver, ROXY, Reef, Cobian, Yellowbox and Cushe, among others.

Owner Blake Trinkler is just 24 years old. Trinkler, a Ceres resident, attended St. Stanislaus Elementary and Central Catholic High schools, as well as Modesto Junior College. He played minor league baseball for the Seattle Mariners.

On the store's Facebook page, Trinkler describes Flip Flop Shops as "The most comfortable shopping experience in Modesto."

Flip Flop Shops is on the mall's lower level near Stride Rite and Starbucks, 3401 Dale Road. Call (209) 595-1599.

Elsewhere around the Business Beat:

The former Hungry Hunter and — using the way-back machine, Cask & Cleaver — on Sisk Road has been torn down to make room for a new Texas Roadhouse restaurant. Company officials could not be reached for comment, but a sign at the site says the restaurant will open next year.

According to its Web site, Texas Roadhouse restaurants began with the first one that opened Feb. 17, 1993, in Clarksville, Ind. It's grown in a Texas-sized way since then; other new locations are set to open soon in Dubai and Kuwait.

There's a potential for some confusion when the Modesto restaurant opens; the like-named but locally owned Mike's Roadhouse is in the same neighborhood on Dale Road.

Ridgway's Restaurant & Lounge in Century Center is celebrating its 32nd anniversary this month.

Though the shopping center has struggled in recent years — losing anchor tenants Gottschalks and Raley's, owner Roy Ridgway said in an e-mail, "As one of the longest continuously owned, local family businesses in Modesto, we are very proud to have seen new generations of customers grow up and bring their families in as well."

Of the restaurant's 35 employees, many of them have been with Ridgways for more than 20 years, Ridgway said.

Ridgway's is at 2401 E. Orangeburg Ave., Modesto. Call (209) 576-1587.

Have an item for Business Beat? Contact Patty Guerra at The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352; (209) 578-2343 or pguerra@modbee.com.