Business Briefs Business Briefs (March 23, 2005)

Menlo Park spa under new ownership

The former Greenhouse Spa, located at 1158 Chestnut St. in Menlo Park, is now Premier Atelier of Menlo Park. The spa was purchased last year by Premier Salons International of Canada, which has 400 North American locations, including one in San Francisco and four in Southern California.

The original Greenhouse spa opened in 2002. The Premier Atelier layout is the same, but staff, services and products have been added, said salon manager Jean Kong, who has been with the spa for two years.

The staff of 15 includes two massage therapists, three hair stylists, and three technicians who give skin treatments, said Ms. Kong.

The product lineup includes "ice cream" bath soaps in cranberry fig, strawberry kiwi and lavender lullaby.

For more information, call 325-0700.
Forty candles for Anthony Schools

Bet you didn't know that Anthony Schools, now celebrating its 40th anniversary, first set up shop at 610 Santa Cruz Ave., corner of El Camino Real, in Menlo Park in 1965.

Anthony Schools has trained thousands of real estate agents and contractors. The school says some of its famous students include: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (San Francisco), Caspar Weinberger, former Secretary of Defense, and heiress Patricia Hearst and her bodyguard and future husband (Burlingame).

The school was founded by Howard Goodell and his wife, Nancy. The Goodell children, James and Kathy, now operate the business from Foster City.

Raj Kapoor joins Mayfield as partner

Raj Kapoor, a co-founder of the online photo service called Snapfish, has joined the Menlo Park-based Mayfield venture capital firm as a partner.

Mayfield was an original investor in Snapfish, now a unit of District Photo. Before founding Snapfish, Mr. Kapoor, 34, was an executive at Excite@Home. He will continue as an adviser to Snapfish.

Mr. Kapoor is graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and has a master's in business administration from Harvard Business School.

Sidana is partner at Foundation Capital

Ashmeet Sidana has been named a venture partner at Foundation Capital, a Menlo Park-based venture capital company. Mr. Sidana joined the firm as an entrepreneur-in-residence in 2004. He will focus on investments in data-center infrastructure, enterprise software, systems, and emerging wireless technology, the firm said.

Peggy Prater named seniors specialist

Peggy Prater, a longtime resident of Menlo Park and a real estate agent with RE/MAX Today in Foster City, was recently awarded the "seniors real estate specialist" designation by the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council in Murphys, California. The specialists counsel seniors on various housing issues, including selling the family home, obtaining a reverse mortgage, and tax matters.

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