Brennan AngelLaw’s Hobby Center on Marsh Street downsized to less than half its size, a move completed in the beginning of May.
Local students, especially architecture and art students, give Law’s a lot of its business. However, the store didn’t always have what they needed, said co-owner Christine Ahern, who has worked there since she moved to San Luis Obispo 10 years ago.
“There would be frustration on their faces, and we don’t want that to happen again,” she said. “We want to fine tune more into what students need.”
It now specializes in supplies for fine art, project building, jewelry making and graphic designers. It still has the gallery and framing services, and has lines of paints, pastels and other things that aren’t available at the chain stores.
While the store’s inventory has lost most of its party supplies, models and general crafts, those things are available at other stores downtown, Ahern said.
She and other owners Bobbie Vasquez and Sharon Gove decided to downsize because they couldn’t keep the whole thing going. They’ve owned the store for about a year, and made the decision when their lease was up in January.
They’re also in the process of changing the name to Law’s Art Central.
The rest of the space is now leased by Central Coast Surfboards, which will remain at its Higuera Street location until the new space is remodeled.
CCS is moving because its current location is being retrofit, said Steve Carlson, general manager and Cal Poly business administration graduate. The owner, Mike Chaney, saw the empty space on Marsh Street as a “perfect opportunity” and a solution to their lease issues, according to an article in The Tribune.
The new space is slightly bigger, and Carlson hopes business won’t be disrupted at all in the transition. Construction will begin as soon as the proper city permits are acquired, he said.
The shop’s current neighbors are jealous of its move to a busier part of downtown, he said jokingly.
“We want to close up one night and open the next (in the new location),” he said. “We don’t want to miss a beat, or have customers miss us.”
The surf shop plans to open its doors in its new location January 2008.
“Customers won’t trip out (because of the change). It’ll still be us,” Carlson said.
Chaney is on a surfing trip and could not be reached for comment.