Word on the Street: Bakery-cafe’s cheesy rolls

P*DE*Q, the maker of little balls of cheesy Brazilian bread, has launched its new location across from Fresno High School.

The new space is part coffee shop and store, and part manufacturing plant. All of P*DE*Q’s rolling, baking and packaging happens in the location.

It’s at 1940 Echo Ave., in the former Echo Street Coffee and Javawava space.

The small rolls, baked with tapioca flour and cheddar and parmesan cheese, can be eaten for breakfast or a snack. Owner Flavia Takahashi-Flores brought her love of them with her when she moved to the U.S. from Brazil.

She launched the company last spring, and has worked out of a commercial kitchen and shared space with Frosted Cakery. Having her own location allows her to sell coffee and tea to customers, and have a gluten-free kitchen.

The P*DE*Qs sell for $1.50 for two, more for larger frozen P*DE*Qs in bags and jars. The business also sells coffee and tea, including boba tea.

The P*DE*Qs are already sold by several caterers and restaurants, including Samba, Pardini’s and Love & Garlic, which use them in place of dinner rolls or as rolls for sliders. They’re also available for sale at Sierra Nut House and Mar-Val Food Stores in Prather.

Takahashi-Flores plans to take the company national next month when she starts online ordering.

Dog prints grows up

After gestating for a year in the Student Hatchery in the Lyles Center for Entrepreneurship, screen-printing business Dog Prints graduated this fall to its own store at Fresno State’s University Student Union.

Kenny Borg, who will graduate from California State University, Fresno, in December with a degree in entrepreneurship, and partner Nick Brucculeri opened their first retail outlet in August, on the first day of the university’s fall semester.

The company’s printing and embroidery operations are off-site, but the store serves as an outlet for T-shirts and other customized apparel aiming squarely at the student market.

Besides the new retail store, Dog Prints is a vendor of apparel for the university’s athletic teams and for the nearby Bulldog Shop, Borg said. It also provides custom-printed T’s and other gear for student clubs and organizations, including fraternities and sororities.

Borg and Brucculeri are also venturing into the crowded market for commercial screen printing and embroidery for off-campus businesses and companies.

Most of the marketing has been through social media, including a Facebook page and Twitter stream, and a website, www.fresnodogprints.com.

Four times the floor

Flooring Liquidators is getting ready to move into a building that is four times its current showroom size in Clovis.

The business will move from its current 4,000-square-foot showroom at 1321 Railroad Ave. into the former Baker’s Sharp Floors at 727 Clovis Ave., said owner Matt Ling.

Baker’s owners did not return calls seeking comments, but a sign on the door states they have retired.

Flooring Liquidators’ will move in mid-December. The company will retain the warehouse it uses on Railroad Avenue.

Ling also owns Flooring Liquidators in Fresno and Visalia. Another person owns the six other Valley Flooring Liquidators.

The Fresno Bee