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After 30 years of providing Pleasanton residents with unique gifts and home furnishings, Clover Creek will be closing its popular store on Main Street in December.
However, owner Alexis Gass told the Weekly that this is not the end of the business as she has plans to relocate to a different spot in town, some time next year.
“The plan for the next location is in Pleasanton where new and fun product lines will be added to some of the existing favorites,” Gass said. “Clover Creek will feature quality Pleasanton souvenirs, gifts, candles, women’s apparel and jewelry. Parking will be easy and close to the location.”
A longtime staple of Pleasanton’s downtown, Clover Creek has shown time and time again that it has a strong presence in the community — winning multiple awards in the Pleasanton Weekly Readers’ Choice contest over the years, including Best Place to Buy a Gift and Best Home Furnishings in 2022.
But due to a “convergence of many reasons,” Gass said it is time for a change of space from its home at 670 Main St.
“There are multiple factors that go into planning the future of a business every year,” she said. “At this time it’s felt that Clover Creek’s future looks better in a different location.”
Over the years, Gass said that she has enjoyed getting to meet so many people from Pleasanton, the Bay Area and visitors from around the world at her quaint little store in the heart of downtown.
She said some of her favorite memories at that location were the conversations and laughter she shared with customers, many of whom ended up becoming her friends.
“The memories that really touch my heart are when dads or grandparents come in with kids to help them hand pick gifts for their moms,” Gass said. “It’s delightful to see the kids’ excitement when they see their gift for mom colorfully wrapped with a bow. The smile on their face is priceless.”
Another thing she said she will miss from the Main Street location is assembling Christmas window displays and that getting to see the “joyful reactions from children and adults alike is greatly rewarding.”
But that doesn’t mean the celebrations won’t go on for one last time, as Gass told her customers on social media that Christmas is still happening at Clover Creek starting later this month — with discounted prices as part of the store’s overall closing sale.
The store’s last day has yet to be determined, according to Gass, who said she expects to close up shop sometime around mid-December. She said that after taking a break for a little while, she would announce more information on the new location in 2024 ahead of a potential spring opening.
Wow one of my FAVORITE shops where I go for those Unique, Beautiful and Touching pieces for the perfect gift for friends and family… I know running a business it challenging and you have to always be thinking ahead to make the time and efforts worth it. I do hope you reopen, find a cost effective location in Pleasanton, and that you will have great success. I for one (and many!) will miss strolling downtown, stopping in on a whim and enjoying your lovely offerings.
On the heels of this unfortunate news, my inbox today included an email notifying me that the Main Street location of Bank of America is closing in 2024. Baughman’s, Dean’s Cafe, how many other downtown locations are exiting? Does it seem time for a hard look at how the city can better enhance conditions to attract businesses to our core? Maybe redwood platforms for dining in place of 2 parking spaces each isn’t the magnet it was hoped for bolstering our unique downtown. Maybe the Downtown Specific Plan needs to be re-examined? It begins to look like something isn’t working. We hope it is fixed long before we find ourselves living with a veritable ghost town on Main Street.
Another local shop closes its doors. Anyone see something wrong with this picture downtown? There are several, large, locations that have now been empty for years with no end in sight. Maybe the City needs to start doing something that will make these owners actually make there empty store fronts attractive to local businesses. Do unrealistic rents feed into this problem? How much longer will Christiansen’s old space stay empty, the other side the Dean’s Cafe, and the space next to Pasta’s to name a few.
The rents are certainly a huge factor, as well as accessibility via car. I’m not even sure how any small business owner can survive the cost of downtown as it is? I don’t suggest we transform downtown into a giant parking lot, but there has to be opportunities to park at least nearby, and it’s not really the case. Without more convenient parking at least at the edge of town or in select locations, people are reluctant to come. In cities around Europe, especially in Italy or France, the problem isn’t so severe as it is a mixed environment of houses and shops, which isn’t exactly the case for downtown. Somehow we have to find a middle ground to keep downtown attractive for pedestrians and make it accessible to most.
Kevin Wang
https://flowerdeliveryitaly.it/