THE RELLIK TAVERN, 726 First St., is mixing it up by airing a commercial through Comcast and adding a “bartender for a night” contest on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.

The commercial, produced by Castaway Creative, hit the airwaves in January and is slated to run on such networks as the Travel Channel, Food Network, AMC, Spike, Bravo and HGTV.

“A lot of people are seeing it, because we are getting a lot of feedback from people who have seen it already,” co-owner Delando Pegan said.

A YouTube video of the commercial has been posted on the Rellik’s Facebook page, which is also a good indication of how the commercial is doing, Pegan said. “When we posted the commercial on Facebook, we had over 6,330 people who saw the post, so it’s pretty big,” he said. “We’ve gotten a lot of action out of it.”

Filming for a commercial can be a lengthy process, he said. “We filmed for six hours to do a 30-second commercial. We had 20-30 volunteers come in and spend a lot of time here. We used all locals. They’re all patrons. A lot of them are parents from my son’s (Lucius) elementary school, Matthew Turner.”

The commercial is slated to run 240 times a month for the next year, and hit about 28,000 households throughout Benicia, Vallejo and Solano County.

“It should help all of downtown,” Pegan said of the commercial. “People are going to come down here to see one of our bands, or something, and they’re going to go have dinner first. It should help everybody.”

The Rellik is also promoting its “guest bartender for a night” contest to be held the first and third Wednesdays of each month. “A lot of people are pretty excited for it,” Pegan said. “It should be fun.”

Winners get a T-shirt and extensive bartending instruction, he said, and “the idea is they invite their friends and family to come out and watch them bartend.”

It may be hard to turn that into a permanent gig, however. Rellik employees tend to stick around — in fact, every bartender who works at the downtown establishment has been there since it opened its doors four years ago.

“That says a lot,” Pegan said. “We only promote from within, so if a bartending position were to open it would be to a barback or a cocktail waitress that has been in training that would move into that position.

“It’s a great way for our loyal employees to move up.”

Call 707-746-1137 or visit www.therelliktavern.com for more information.

Threads Trading Company opens Friday

Threads Trading Company will open its doors Friday in Tannery Row, 129 A First St.

Denise Edenfield, owner of The Nest, is launching the new business that will deal in what she calls “hip and trendy resale clothing,” targeting juniors and misses size, from 0/1 to 15/16.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, until spring, when the store will be open Tuesdays, as well.

Those with clothing they’re willing to part with may email Edenfield at threadstradingco@yahoo.com. The store’s website is threadstradingco.com.

‘From Kitchen to Market’ reslated to Feb. 25

The “From Kitchen to Market” workshop that will show aspiring chefs how to sell their barbecue sauces, homemade cookies, custom jams and other delicacies has been rescheduled to 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, in the Commission Room at City Hall, 250 East L St.

The workshop also is open to those who have started a specialty foods company and want help managing or expanding the business.

Anni Minuzzo, a 25-year food trade veteran and owner of her own 15-year wholesale baking company, will lead the workshop and give participants advice on the ins and outs of the specialty food industry.

Registration is available online at solanosbdc.org/node/14040, through Solano Small Business Development Centers of Northern California.

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THE BENICIA HERALD’S WEEKLY BENICIA BUSINESS BEAT COLUMN is an opportunity for local businesses and companies to tell our readers about such news as moves, grand openings, awards, promotion of employees, staff changes and changes in goods and services.

Submissions need to answer the questions who, what, when, where, why and how, preferably in the body of an email, and provide contact information.

Deadline is 3 p.m. Friday for news items that will appear in the next Tuesday edition’s Benicia Business Beat. Please email news releases and accompanying high-resolution photographs and logos to beniciaherald@gmail.com, and put “Attn. Business Beat” in the subject line, as well as the name of the business.

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