Although one month isn't exactly a trend, the just-released March Transient Occupancy Tax figures show the first increase in almost two years.

The March 2010 numbers, which reflect the gross revenue of city hotels and motels, was up 12.6 percent compared to March 2009.

Part of this increase is probably attributable to March 2009's horrible decline of 25 percent compared to March 2008. Fiscal year-to-date TOT revenue is down about 8 percent — that's slightly ahead of projections. During this interesting time, any TOT number north of zero is something to be thankful for.

Tourism has a direct impact on about 20 percent of the SLO economy.

San Luis Obispo's Charles Schwab office will soon be moving into downtown with an office about twice the size of their current Pacific Street location.

Insiders report that Schwab and CoastHills Federal Credit Union are separately in the final stages of negotiating leases on parts of the 775 Marsh St. complex.

Both are reportedly very close to signing.

Insiders report that a well-known county restaurant could soon be opening a second location in the recently vacated Baja Fresh store at 1085 Higuera St.

They restaurant is very close to a deal on the building owned by Rob Rossi. Meanwhile, Muzio's, a downtown fixture since 1888, has finally opened its new eatery in the renovated Wineman Hotel building.

The Wineman has also signed Sprint Communications to take one of the smaller spaces for a retail location.

While it took longer than expected, one of the most eagerly anticipated store openings is finally happening.

SLO Chamber members will be invited this week to a special May 19 sneak preview of Miner's Ace Hardware with the official grand opening a few days later.

In January, Miner's announced its intention to open a store at the former Pacific Coast Home and Garden Center on Santa Barbara Street in SLO in March, but the extensive remodeling took a few months longer than expected.

The 20,000-square-foot store will carry about 50,000 different items, about twice the inventory of the previous store.

Prudential California Realty opened a new residential brokerage office Saturday in San Luis Obispo at 1015 Nipomo St., Suite 100 (corner of Nipomo and Dana) in the historic Soda Water Works Building.

The office is Prudential California Realty’s third, joining the Arroyo Grande flagship office at 130 West Branch St.; and a Lompoc office 531 North H St. The facility extends the company’s reach, service and influence in the busy, Central Coast market, said Broker/Owner Erny Pinckert.

“We see opportunity in our market and we’re expanding when others may be pulling back," Pinckert explained. "Our objective is to gain market share as our industry and economy recover, and we’ll provide even better customer service and support every step of the way."

There are still six months or so until the November elections but the contest for San Luis Obispo mayor is already getting interesting.

In addition to councilmember Jan Howell Marx, who’s already officially announced her candidacy, very reliable inside sources report there will likely be at least three other credible candidates.

Former councilmember and former Mother's Tavern owner Paul Brown is reassembling his past election team and will announce his candidacy for mayor very soon.

Former councilmember Christine Mulholland has also been contacting supporters in preparation for a mayor’s run and is an almost certain candidate.

And current councilmember and former mayor Allen Settle has been exploring another run for mayor with close friends and supporters.Our bet: he’ll be in, too.

Because there is no runoff in this election, any time there are more than two candidates, vote splitting becomes a big factor. This should be very interesting to say the least.

The SLO Chamber has received several complaints about the just-installed metal fence in the front of the new Daylight Home and Patio store on upper Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo.

Some people hate the looks of it and are demanding to know "how could this happen here."

This relates to the old adage that says "people always want government to move faster unless it’s their neighbor who wants approval to do something they don’t like."

In this case, a fence doesn’t need Architecture Review Committee approval, only adminstrative review, something the Chamber had fought for to help streamline the development review process.

And the fence is almost the same as the fence in front of the old Daylight location that didn’t get any complaints. It's just never that simple.

The spacious San Luis Obispo Grange Hall on Broad Street has been an "under-utilized" building for years.

Now, a group of local musicians, including jazzman Pat Cormick, see this as an opportunity to create a unique new venue and the home for local talent to perform.

They are moving forward with a vision of rehabilitating the Grange into a first-class venue for various performing arts functions and educational activities related to the arts.

The group is moving fast and hopes to open this fall. A vibrant local arts scene is critical to the Chamber's "creative class" vision of economic development.

MINDBODY, a business management software company based in SLO, ranks as No. 40 in Outside magazine’s annual list of The 50 Best Places to Work.

Outside is the nation’s leading active lifestyle magazine, with over two million readers a month.

Work places were evaluated on a variety of criteria, including green practices, involvement in community organizations, company culture and the availability of onsite wellness activities.

MINDBODY employees were asked to complete an extensive survey, and the winning companies were those who best enabled employees to balance productivity with an active, eco-conscious lifestyle.

To see the full list of best places to work, click here.