55°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

New area businesswoman all-in with Boulder City

Some local businesspeople are wary about what will happen when Interstate 11 loops motorists on a 17-mile path around Boulder City. They fear they’ll lose profits and customers.

Blueprints are drawn and funding for I-11 is almost a reality. But one merchant is optimistic.

“If you offer excellent customer service, great products and reasonable prices, people will come,” Jill Quatrale, owner of Chilly Jilly’z on U.S. Highway 93, said.

She bought Marshall Plaza in February. She’ll move her ice cream and coffee business from its current location at the former Boulder Bean, across the street, to an empty space in her recent purchase just before the busy Labor Day weekend.

A fresh coat of white and pink paint now covers the walls of what was once the Ladybug Nursery and Pool Services, a business B.J. and Bill Conklin owned for more than 20 years.

Some merchants share Quatrale’s optimism.

“I rely mostly on locals, so (I-11) won’t affect me,” Kris Thompson, owner of the Boulder City Florist, which is in Marshall Plaza, said.

But some local businesspeople seem less enthusiastic.

“I think 30 to 40 percent of my regular business comes from tourists that are walking up and down the street,” said Beth Walker, owner of Grandma Daisy’s Candy and Ice Cream Parlor.

Thompson’s Marshall Plaza neighbor, Vinny’s Pizza owner Vinny Cimino, said, “I hope the best for Boulder City and local businesses.”

Quatrale’s investment in Boulder City wasn’t based solely on profit potential. After spending several years in Los Angeles as a private equity fund accountant, she was looking for a change.

“I was very good at what I did, and I loved it,” Quatrale said. “But I didn’t want to do it forever.”

Emotional reasons also prompted her move.

“I lost my dad when I was young,” Quatrale said. “But I remember he always took me for ice cream.”

Quatrale began Chilly Jilly’z four years ago with as a pushcart operation in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

In November, she moved to Boulder City with her partner Steve Bunch, leaving her pushcart behind and opening at her current site next to the Rebel gas station.

Quatrale’s new location will create jobs.

“We plan on increasing our staff from two to 10 employees by creating positions for bakers, cake designers and cashiers,” she said.

Besides jobs, Quatrale hopes her new venture will benefit Boulder City in other ways.

“I’m hoping with the opening of this business that we are going to draw more people from the Las Vegas area,” she said. “Not just to patronize the store but the rest of the city and Lake Mead.”

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Community pride on full display

A mixture of lime, paint and water was used to touch up the city landmark, which saw the B first painted in 1985 and two years later the C by BCHS students. It had been 10 years since the last time it was touched up. Event organizer Bret Runion said he was pleased with the turnout and hopes to see even more assist in future years.

It’s official: STRs banned in BC

For an issue that has caused so much local uproar for more than a year, the question of whether Boulder City should formalize the informal-but-still-binding ban on short-term rentals (STR) within city limits ended with more of a whimper than a bang Tuesday as the City Council voted 4-1 to adopt text changes to city code clarifying that the practice is illegal and establishing a system of civil fines for STR owners who continue to operate.

A busy Saturday in Boulder City

Saturday proved to be a very busy day in Boulder City as events included repainting of the BC on Radar Mountain (see page 2 for photos), as well as the city’s Easter Egg Hunt at Wilbur Square, Flowfest and the popular goat yoga class at Bicentennial Park and the Injured Police Officers Fund car show at Veterans’ Memorial Park.

To chip or not to chip?

In its second time at the plate, as it were, the proposal by Boulder City Councilmember Cokie Booth to require that pets within BC be microchipped ended up with a lot of people talking about maybe taking a swing at the ball but no one actually doing so.

Council candidate slate set

A total of seven candidates for city council and three candidates for justice of the peace of Boulder Township will face off in the primary election scheduled for June 11.

Ultrarunner to push himself to the limit

It’s not uncommon for friends or even family members to try and best one another whether that be athletics, academics or relationships.

Vets home hit with 18 citations

In a recent unannounced inspection, the Southern Nevada State Veterans’ Home was cited 18 times for issues ranging from verbal abuse of a patient to failing to provide meals at an appropriate temperature, to employees not having keys to locked gates, which would be needed in the case of an emergency evacuation.

BDCU looks back on past year at annual meeting

For more than eight decades, the Boulder Dam Credit Union has been the most popular place for Boulder City residents to do their banking, not to mention see friends and neighbors.

Top o’ the evening to ya

Photos by Ron Eland/Boulder City Review

BC repaint: Countdown is on

It’s almost time to don that old pair of jeans, the ratty tennis shoes in the back of your closet and a shirt you’re not worried about ruining.