Church Mouse elevates shopping to a religious experience

Next time you’re strolling Sonoma Plaza, take a moment to gauge the reactions of folks who first encounter The Church Mouse on East Napa Street. If they’re visitors, they’ve probably already settled into their inn or hotel and spent a day wine tasting. The faithful shopper among them has insisted that today is to be a High Holy Day, spent in reflective worship at the retail altar. The stroll around the square has offered the tourists a unique, mostly sophisticated retail adventure.
They cannot help being enticed by a crowded, tasteful display window. This is the gateway to the soul of The Church Mouse. Inside, common remarks can be overheard: “My grandmother had a bowl like that!” “One can never have too many candles!” “Do you think they have that in my size?” Even after that unfortunate apple incident, even Eve couldn’t resist such temptation.
Once inside the shopper’s sanctuary, it’s as if the heavens have opened. Seasonal delights are first encountered and elicit the remembrance of holidays past. There are original objets d’art, irresistible knick-knacks, precious antique furniture and more in the adjacent department. Racks of clean, pressed clothing lure customers to a room at the rear of the establishment with much more of the same. There is a tidy area offering books, glass cases with gleaming jewelry and even a linen department. The collection of delicate china, glistening crystal, polished silver pieces and other assorted housewares that populate a large area is utterly divine.
It is well within the midst of this spiritual journey, that our shopper is struck by a stunning revelation. This is a thrift store.
The Church Mouse on Sonoma Plaza, as well as its sister stores in Agua Caliente and two shops in Boyes Hot Springs, is a thrift store like no other. All proceeds benefit Saint Francis Solano School, which is a private school of approximately 450 children kindergarten – 8th grade. During the past 30 years, hundreds of thousands of dollars in Church Mouse profits have been used to keep tuition costs low, for educational programs and for renovations to the school. Recently, $17,000 was used to replace an exterior staircase that had suffered damage during a storm.
It all started in May of 1966 when the St. Francis Solano Thrift Program was founded by its patron saints, Evelyn Diani, Norman Mak, Betty Nicholson and the late Ann Waldren. Diani still serves on the Board of Directors of The Church Mouse. In the beginning, there were modest weekend rummage sales each April and October. They quickly grew to biblical proportions, moved to the more spacious, newly built Father Roberts Hall and required traffic control by the Sonoma Police Department. Visionary Mother’s Club members Carla de Petris and Sally Vella (who today is in charge of the cleaning of sometimes-delicate linens) suggested opening a thrift shop.
The first location opened in Boyes Hot Springs behind the post office on July 13, 1976. St. Francis student Karen Corbett had won the contest to name the store. The Church Mouse was such a success that the group sought to open its second location. On November 13, 1979, the Sonoma Plaza store opened and would prove to be the place where the high-end items were to be offered. In 1984, the organization purchased land in Agua Caliente, on which a 6,000 square foot building would be built. The Thrift Center, as it would be called, is now the nerve center of the non-profit group.
Thrift Center store manager and St. Francis mom Crystal Morgan manages this second-hand Garden of Eden. She is one of the 25 full-time employees spread among the four stores. Most workers are volunteers from the parish. Morgan and her dedicated staff thoughtfully process all merchandise that comes to the drop off center there. Twelve-year veteran Lynn Gretch decides in which location it will be displayed. Every electronic item is tested, every piece of clothing and linen is laundered, each and every antique is researched before it is priced and categorized. The standards are high and every day, merchandise is passed on to other charities such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army.
“I feel like a pirate, because everything is a treasure,” explained Morgan, whose grandmother, mother and aunt all worked the rummage sales of years gone by. “So many of our customers are touched by the amazing work the volunteers do, including St. Francis eighth-graders who all are required to volunteer at least 15 hours. These workers and the ladies who started it all are such an inspiration.”
There is no need to feel pious about purchasing previously owned merchandise, because The Church Mouse offers new merchandise too. Seasonal decorations, gift-wrapping necessities, craft supplies, luggage and more are offered in three of the stores. Retail outlets that have gone out of business donate such goods, which make up about 10 per cent of all stock. Shop guilt free, as The Church Mouse recycles every item it possibly can and creates such little waste that none of the stores have the need for garbage service.
The Church Mouse locations and phone numbers are: The Sonoma Plaza at 15 East Napa St. 707-938-9797; Boyes Hot Springs (two stores) one at 10 Boyes Blvd. 707-938-9839 and the other, Home Furnishings at 180680 Hwy. 12, 707-938-0188; Thrift Center at 16885 Hwy. 12, Agua Caliente 707-996-5115. All stores are open seven days a week 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., except Home Furnishings, which is open Mon. – Sat. For more information go to www.stfrancischurchmouse.org.