Bob Shallit: He's playing their songs

Every country has one. Why not every company, too?

That's the pitch of 22-year-old Sacramento entrepreneur Stan Oleynick, whose company produces corporate anthems -- or "eNthems," as he calls them, in a reference to e-commerce.

The firm was started last year. So far Oleynick says he has sold 52 eNthems -- at $499 a pop.

All are original pieces that convey the culture and history of client companies. An associate writes the music; another sings the tunes. Oleynick pens the lyrics after reviewing a questionnaire that clients fill out online. A CD version is delivered within two weeks of an order.

Some of the songs are corny, like the one Oleynick wrote for the nationally syndicated "Don and Mike" daytime radio show, known for pushing the boundaries of good taste. "It's a party without the beer," crows the singer.

Another, for Golden Palace, makes fun of the online casino's penchant for oddball marketing, such as paying $28,000 for a grilled cheese sandwich bearing the Virgin Mary's image or hiring people to tattoo the company's name on their forehead.

Other anthems are more serious. (Samples can be heard at www.enthem.com/enthemers.)

How do clients use their anthems? Some employ them as "on-hold" music when customers are waiting on the phone. Others play them as background tunes in their waiting room.

"It's better than elevator music," says Oleynick, who moved here from Russia when he was 17 to escape what he says was persecution of members of his Seventh-Day Adventist faith.

The Internet entrepreneur, who markets his new business only online, says his motivation is to raise $1 million to start yet another venture: a Craigslist-like online marketplace.

Why'd he pick corporate anthems to reach his goal? "It was crazy enough to work," says Oleynick.

Choices, choices: The investors buying the former Wells Fargo building on 10th Street have lots of ideas for the incredible 1930s property.

They also have lots of time before they have to make any decisions. Once the purchase is completed, investors Abe Koshfam and Majid Rahimian plan to lease the 71-year-old art deco building back to the current owner, the California Restaurant Association, for about two years -- until CRA's new digs are ready in a Capitol Mall high-rise under construction.

After that, the 10th Street building could be turned into a jewelry mart, a culinary school or maybe a reception hall, says Koshfam (not Koshfan as we mistakenly reported earlier), an agent with Lyon Real Estate..

Whatever they decide, some renovations will be required -- always a tricky task when you're dealing with a historic building. That doesn't worry Koshfam, who has several other local real estate holdings, including another older downtown property.

"A lot of people won't touch historic buildings," he says. "I like them. I really do."

Hot property: Developers of the planned Palladio open-air complex in Folsom bagged a nice haul at last week's big shopping center trade conference in Vegas.

Russ Davis, a vice president with project owner Elliott Homes, says several major retailers made verbal commitments to go into Palladio, the 50-acre center that will adjoin a Kaiser medical campus and include retail shops, restaurants, a movie theater and about 80,000 square feet of office space. The next step is turning those commitments into signed leases.

Representing Elliott at the International Conference of Shopping Centers was General Growth Properties, a Chicago-based mall developer that's just been brought in to handle leasing.

According to Davis, "all the (conference) retailers were coming to us instead of us having to go to them."

The plan is to sign most of the key tenants by October, Davis says, then start detailed construction drawings. The permitting process should take most of next year. Davis hopes to begin construction by fall of 2007 and have the project -- at East Bidwell Street and Broadstone Parkway -- open the following year.

About the writer:

• Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049 or bshallit@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.