Present, the downtown Los Altos shop that offers gift baskets full of artisanal food and beauty products, is set to close its doors permanently Feb. 15.
Owners Jim Daley and Jim Reynolds are shuttering the business after deciding in the 2022 fourth quarter to retire outside of the Bay Area.
The pair opened Present at 162 Main St. with help from their daughter, Michelle Wright, in November 2012. Since then, they’ve been curating gift baskets for local shoppers and companies looking for unique, and often regional, presents. They expanded with a move to 127 Main in 2017.
Many of Present’s products were tested by the owners against other alternatives before being sold. Approximately 75% of the food items were made in the Bay Area, according to the Present website.
The business was doing well when the pair decided to close up shop, Daley said – the pandemic did not affect their bottom line, and sales were strong.
“Because of the support of our customers, our business continued to grow every year,” Daley said. “Even during the pandemic.”
Although Wright thought about taking over the business from her fathers, her distance from the store would have made maintaining operations difficult.
“Michelle considered taking over Present, but moved to Santa Cruz to be nearer to her husband’s job, so it is challenging to drive the long distance daily for retail hours,” Daley said. “She will likely return to corporate or university sales and marketing, specializing in event coordination, which she has done for decades.”
Present may be open in the future and serve the community in different ways, according to Wright.
“There are options for the future of Present, including finding a possible buyer, continuing online sales from another location and/or offering a pop-up store during the holidays,” she said. “Perhaps this isn’t goodbye, but a chance for the three of us to travel more, then return during the holidays with a gift store pop-up so we can visit with customers and friends again.”
The shop will remain stocked with food products, and select nonfood items are 25-75% off, the owners said in a Jan. 9 newsletter.
“We would like to thank the community for their support during the past 10 years,” Daley said. “We plan to stay in touch through our newsletter mailing list so that we can share what’s next. We look forward to the next chapter.”
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