After 23 years in business, She’s clothing store will shut its doors for good at month’s end. The Free Lance talked with owner Sheila Stevens about her time at She’s, ownership of several downtown businesses and her next phase in life as she plans to open a consignment store in the coming months as she recovers from health issues.
Free Lance: What brought on the closure of She’s?
What I’m going to do here is, I’m going to find another building. There are a lot of buildings and they don’t have to be on the main street when you’re going to do a consignment. It’s not a thrift store, just a consignment shop. We tried it over at She’s and it worked. It worked well. My lease was up. If I was going to move, this is the time. The gal that works with me, she’s worked with me all those years. I think she’ll follow me. Right now I’m going to work on my leg and stay close to the bakery.
How did She’s begin?
I had a store in Southern California. A very good friend of mine’s mother had a shop. After school I would work there until 5. Then I would run down to this little restaurant and work there. One day I said to myself, I’m doing the same thing. All my life I’ve been running from one stop to another. We did have the Knife & Fork Café. It was empty at the time. Everything had gone down at that time. There was no retail on that side of the street except She’s. I decided to take that over. I loved it. It was wonderful. My husband became ill so I was working three businesses. I was working She’s, Knife & Fork Café and Heavenly Bakery. I ended up with a bad back, so then I just decided I’d get rid of the Knife & Fork and keep the bakery and She’s. I love the bakery and I’m going to keep that. That’s a nice little bakery.
Were you always into fashion?
Years ago I used to model. So I’ve always been involved in that. Modeling and whatever. Then I worked at that little dress shop in Santa Paula. You might as well be living in Hollister. It’s just like Hollister, a little tiny country town. I worked in this little dress shop. She taught me to buy. When she went to buy clothes in L.A., I went with her. She started me buying and showing me what not to do and what to do. Then I had a shop in Ventura, and I had the shop in San Juan Bautista. It was the old house, She’s Old House.
What makes consignment work well?
Everybody’s downsizing. The whole country’s downsizing. They don’t want to just give their stuff away. What they’re doing, these consignment shops are doing well. They take the things in. They can sell them. We get to choose if we’re going to take it. They get to choose how much they’re going to sell it for. It’s a split deal.
What attracts you to downtown?
Probably because it’s just like the one I came from, where I was raised. It’s the same people, the same type of people. And I like small towns. When I was modeling I lived in Los Angeles and it didn’t take long for me to know the city was not something for me to do.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I moved up here because my late husband came up here, we came up here, because they wanted him to come and work at a seed business. He was involved in a seed company. He had a seed company in Southern California. He retired and we came up here. Of course, my husband now, his whole life has been in canning. That’s the attraction to small towns.
