Downtown shops keep traditions while trying new things
Thursday, I visited two businesses in downtown Chico that have acquired new ownership fairly recently, but have kept some of their stores similar to the previous owners' visions. Mary Hartley and Celeste Cramer, the owners of Tomfoolery Gifts and Gadgets for about eight months, have made some changes to their store, but also have kept some things the same.
Hartley and Cramer bought the store in March.
“It's laid out differently,” Hartley said Thursday. “Also, the back office used to be the gag room, and now we run our business North State Solar from that room.”
The gag room housed some of the stores' funny gag gifts.
“All the funny, weird
stuff was in one area,” Hartley said.
Hartley and Cramer have kept the gag gifts tradition going, since Tomfoolery
was known previously for having gag gifts, but the gag stuff is now dispersed throughout the store.
Hartley and Cramer provide great customer service. They survey customers to ask what they want to see in the store.
They want to expand their travel section and have added dog gifts to their inventory.
Cramer and Hartley are preparing for Christmas preview today, which is held from 4-8 p.m. in downtown Chico. They hired four seasonal employees to help with Christmas sales.
Tomfoolery Gifts and Gadgets is located at 126 West Third St.
I also visited one of my favorite stores in Chico, Sweet Chico Confections and Gelato. The smell alone is wonderful. Owner Robin Klitzke bought Sweet Chico in 2021 and has also made some changes, although the basic attributes of the store remain the same.
“We have more product,” Klitzke said. “We've added flavored popcorn and freeze dried candy and have gotten a couple new lines. We have the widest selection of flavors.”
Klitzke was unpacking a small box of candy when I walked into the store. They were chocolates made to look like Swiss army knives. I thought that was cute. She gave me two small pieces of jolly rancher freeze dried candy to sample. Yum!
She and her employees are also preparing for Christmas preview. Klitzke said there will be three cash registers going during preview so people don't have to wait in line as long, and she has hired some temporary help for today's event.
Klitzke is giving her employees more hours during the Christmas season so they can help her out and earn some extra money.
Sweet Chico Confections and Gelato is located at 121 West Third St.