Liking the locals
I’ve made it clear that I’m against Starbucks in Chico and Wal-Mart in general, but what am I for? Which stores do I patronize?
There’s Trader Joe’s, of course, which I’ve recently written about. When it first opened, it was too crowded for me, so I stayed away, leaving my wife Gail to shop there alone. But now the crowds have receded, so I’m back at her side helping out on our big shopping day.
But what about the locals? What about the businesses that make Chico so Chico-ish?
At one time I played the field with coffeehouses. Now, I’ve pretty much settled on Café Mondo and Moxie’s, with an occasional Naked Lounge chaser.
I still play the field with restaurants. I can’t imagine having such a cushy life that I could afford to have dinner at a place like The Red Tavern every week. Our one regular eating stop is Cozy Diner. Gail and I go there and make out our grocery shopping list while we’re eating. Gail orders a latté, and I order a tall glass of some of the best orange juice in town. I like Cozy Diner’s bread pudding and Gail says their gravy is just like her mother’s.
Gail has discovered Bella’s Beads. She’s scored some snazzy little baubles for the necklaces she’s restringing. Bella’s is a place where a talent for making fine distinctions can be amply rewarded. Bella’s must have tens of thousands of beads. In the same shopping center, Hubb’s Stationery gives superb customer service. I always feel like I’m being treated like a VIP whenver I go there.
The employees at Collier Hardware never fail to answer my questions whenever I undertake my admittedly modest home improvements projects. If I fear I may be leaving with the wrong gismo, they alway tell me I can come back and exchange it. The staff at Lyon Books goes to great lengths to find the books I order from the store. Melody Records is a great place to browse for vintage vinyl, although after 40 years of collecting, I have just about everything I ever wanted.
Rerunz bookstore is in the heart of Big-Boxland. Sometimes, it’s hard to find a place to park there because of the crowds that shop at Target. But we are never daunted. We keep circling until we find a space. Gail and I live in a house that’s too small for the number of books we’d like to own, so we sell our surplus at Rerunz so we can buy more books at half-price. It’s a constant cycle of buying, reading the books and selling the surplus.
There aren't a lot of "regulars" on our list. We don’t shop much unless we want to replace something. We keep things a long time. Consumer spending makes the economy hum, but our household is kind of a dud in that department. We tend to like what we have and don't let go of it. In decorating our house, we picked our "period" 30 years ago and stuck with it. We're immune to fashion fads and our hunger for electronic gadgets is modest.
Chico has more stores than I could visit in a lifetime.