Shari Fitzpatrick may not have dipped her last strawberry.

But at least temporarily she's exiting the confection business she pioneered 22 years ago with Shari's Berries and later, the Berry Factory.

"I have to stop the bleeding and regroup," says the Placerville resident who had rock stars and politicians among her fans but couldn't weather a recession and conflicts with a national firm that bought her original company in 2006.

On Monday she closed the last of her Berry Factory stores and on Tuesday filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, listing assets of $416,000 and liabilities of $704,000.

Fitzpatrick says sales have slowed in the past couple of years. Worse, she says online retailer Provide Commerce Inc. – which acquired all Shari's operations outside Sacramento – stopped making commission payments to her in April 2009.

"I could have handled one or the other, the economy or them going into breach of contract," she says. "But both was too much to take."

Provide Commerce reps didn't respond to our request for comment.

What's next for Fitzpatrick? She says she'll continue to develop a career as a motivational speaker. And she doesn't rule out a return to the business that gave her fame.

"I hope some day in the future to have a fresh-dipped berry company again," she says.

Starting over

Going back into business is Chuck Hansen, who is relaunching an IT firm for public sector clients four years after selling his former venture, Hansen Information Technologies.

Hansen has spent the past few years consulting, spending time with his kids, playing music and getting his pilot's certificate.

But with his "non-compete" agreement expiring, Hansen says he and his brother, Scott, started talking about jumping back into the IT game.

Cash-strapped municipalities are desperately seeking experts to help them get cost-effective systems. "So," Hansen says, "why not us?"

The brothers are starting out with five employees at the business now called Hansen.com. Will they ever get to the 375 workers (and $48.5 million in annual sales) that the predecessor company had?

It's possible.

"With the right people and right services," Hansen says, "you can do anything."

Deal flow

Changing hands is a South Natomas office building long owned by the Heller Co.

Capital Builders Inc. of Granite Bay this week acquired the 53,000-square-foot building at 2500 Venture Oaks for $4.9 million.

Kevin Partington, the Cushman & Wakefield exec who represented the seller, says several large tenants had departed recently and the Heller family "didn't want to have to recapitalize the building" to bring in new ones.

Capital Builders intends to renovate the building, "bring it up to a Class A asset again and fill it up," says Tom Walcott, a Grubb & Ellis senior VP who represented the buyer.

Getting ready for takeoff

How do you make TV commercials promoting a new airport terminal while it's still a construction zone?

You use animation – and humor.

At least that was the approach employed by the Hiltachk Marketing Group, which on Monday kicks off a $1 million, multimedia blitz a month in advance of the opening of the new Terminal B.

TV spots show animated characters being whisked through the terminal amid PA-type "travel advisories," such as "Curbs are for loading, unloading and gawking."

The 30-second TV spots are getting prime placement on shows like "Grey's Anatomy," says agency chief Kimberlie Hiltachk. Also planned: Web banners, print ads and billboards, aimed at luring passengers from secondary markets and informing regulars about changes in service.

Says Hiltachk of the campaign: "I think we're giving the airport a personality."

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