Being in a nice small town

I opened my own shop, Avenue Gifts, 11 years ago. I wanted to be in Golden and be a part of a wonderful community.

The building the shop is in has been here since the late 1800s — it still has the original tin ceiling. It was originally the opera house. It’s neat to be in an historic building.

I am a lifelong resident of Golden. Golden is a nice small town. As long as I have the business, I’ll be here.

About the store

Avenue Gifts is open seven days a week — Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

I carry a wide variety of souvenir items and Colorado food items. I also carry Coors shirts and glassware for those days when the Coors (brewery) tours are not available. I also have a lot of kids’ toys and educational items.

It’s fun to bring in merchandise that I feel is needed in Golden. People enjoy the wide variety.

A labor of love

I’ve been in retail all of my life. I was with the Foss Company for over 30 years before starting my own business. Foss was a cornerstone in Golden. Everybody loved to shop there.

Avenue Gifts is my hobby and labor of love. I never dread getting out of bed and coming to work.

When I’m not at the shop, my husband and I enjoy walking and traveling. We’ve done a number of cruises and U.S. travel. We hope to do more U.S. travel soon — one place we’ve always wanted to go to is Yellowstone.

I’m very active with the downtown merchants. I like knowing what’s going on and what’s coming up. We meet once a month and talk about events and all things that affect the business community.