Lakeport >> In 2005, Main Street Gifts, located in downtown Lakeport, began by providing tourists and the people of Lake County with a large assortment of items, from collectables to baby toys to clothing. In just a few short months, the doors will close on this eclectic collection for good.
Mark Demasick, owner of Main Street Gifts, and his wife Cathi decided it was time to step back from the business after Cathi suffered medical issues.
“I’ve gone through a heart attack and two strokes last year,” Cathi Demasick said. “We were only keeping it because we couldn’t afford to sell it. My husband just said it’s time to let it go and it’s his business. Between that and the economy basically the store’s not made a penny in six years.”
The closure of a significant tourist draw hit the business hard. “Basically the economy around the lake is horrible,” Demasick said. “Since Konocti Harbor Resort closed we have gone down 10 or 20 percent each year.”
She insists that this isn’t due to expensive items or a lack of assortment. “Our prices are less than any place else,” she said. “We’ve got the variety.” She believes that the economic changes have been the main deterrent. This was evidenced when Main Street Gifts partnered with American Express for the holiday season. People who held credit cards with the company could come in and get cash back on their purchases. But this did nothing for the store’s profits.
“We do the American Express thing and we advertise for it and we got two people for American Express for all of December,” Demasick said. “A whole lot of people own American Express cards and it didn’t assist us in making any more sales.”
Though the store hasn’t been making a profit for years, Demasick has kept things running for the tax break. “It’s been being paid for by Mark Demasick. He’s the one that owns the business,” she said. “He’s tired of paying for a dead horse we couldn’t afford to really get rid of it because it was a write off. But we can’t afford to keep it because it’s making me sicker.”
Another problem that Cathi Demasick faces is the limited resources in the Lake County area. Consequently, she and her husband are planning on relocating closer to the Bay Area. “My medical facilities aren’t out here,” Demasick said. “If I need to go to the hospital I need to be air lifted. I can’t live here because I can’t get services here.” Add that on top of her health issues plus the struggling economy and keeping the store running is next to impossible.
There isn’t a set date for the closure of Main Street Gifts, but Demasick is aiming for the spring. “We are hoping to do it by the end of April if we can move enough of this stuff,” she said. To help sell their items quickly, the store is offering everything at largely discounted prices, which will drop each week until they get through all 12,000 of their products. “We have just so much stuff and we’d like to get rid of at least 75 percent of it.”
The Demasicks’ are donating a portion of the proceeds from their sales to St. Jude’s and Tango Mike. “Main Street Gifts has donated to these two organizations for years,” said Demasick. They’re happy to be making one final contribution to some great causes.
Once the store shuts its doors, the area will sadly lose many unique goods. “We carry a lot of locally made items which you’re not going to find anywhere else in Lake County,” Demasick said. “We have handmade scarves, we have Lake County diamonds, all of our jewelry is handmade … Everything in the store, everything, is not carried anywhere else in the town.”
They sell a vast array of items, ensuring that whatever occasion a customer is buying for, the store will have a perfect gift. “We have everything from apples to zebras,” Demasick said. “We carry everything you can think of.” Some of these items include outdoor décor, lotion, knives, cups, collectables, NFL jerseys and a wide variety of salt and pepper shakers, a product that the store is known for. Mark Demasick is also a cabinet maker and he’s crafted all of the shelves that house the stores many products. “We’ll be selling those too but not until I empty them out,” Demasick said.
Upon opening, these unique gifts were a big draw, and the store did very well for a time. As such, Main Street Gifts has many loyal customers who have repeatedly returned over the years. “The people that I met and the customers have become friends,” she said. “They come here every year at Christmastime. Some of them only come in at Christmastime. Some people come up from the Bay Area. I have a guy that I just spoke with on the phone and he’s been a customer for four or five years and he comes four or five times a year … I can just name tons of people.” These customers have been so dedicated to Demasick that she’s reaching out to a good deal of them during the store’s final months. “There are probably close to 150 that I’m making personal phone calls to,” she said.
Their one of a kind items and superior customer service are a huge appeal for many of these people. “They have come to our store in particular because they like our products and they like our customer service and I think that made a big difference to a lot of people,” said Demasick. “The employees that worked here have given superior service.”
Cathi and Mark Demasick have been thrilled to serve much of the Lake County community and beyond over the years and are sorry to see their business come to an end. “We thank [customers] for the memories and for all the great times that we’ve had,” Demasick said.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
