Heidi’s Sonoma Journey
This is the third of three stories about Heidi’s relationship with Sonoma - A Little Store and a Full Life
🟩 A Day of Rubber Stamps and Sonoma Charm — Chapter 1
Begin with “A Day of Rubber Stamps and Sonoma Charm” to discover what first brought Heidi to town.
🟨 I Followed a Dream to Sonoma — Chapter 2
Read “I Followed a Dream to Sonoma” for the unexpected opportunity and generous welcome that made Sonoma home.
🟥 A Little Store and a Full Life — Chapter 3 (You are reading this story.)
Read this to see the end of Heidi’s journey, from arriving in Sonoma to creating a business and a life filled with connections.
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Heidi Geffen began finding community within a week of moving to Sonoma. Temple, exercise classes, folk dancing, and later pickleball and games brought friendships that overlapped and grew. Opening her vintage five-and-dime store gave her another way to connect—and a reason to stay in town all day.
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A Little Store and a Full Life
Within a week of moving to Sonoma, I went to services at the temple.
That was important to me. It wasn’t even so much the religious aspect as finding my community—finding my tribe.
I met a handful of people that Saturday. Afterward, I went to the bank and ran into somebody I had just met at services. Then I went to the grocery store and saw somebody else.
That was a good way to start building a community.
I joined Parkpoint right away, and I served on committees through the temple. I started folk dancing at Vintage House. I still run into people I met through folk dancing all those years ago.
The person who now leads the group I sing with was my yoga teacher at Parkpoint when I first moved here. You never know where those little things you do will lead.
Meanwhile, I was commuting to Petaluma to work at Mrs. Grossman’s. I joked about driving past cows in the morning, but I hated leaving town. I hated leaving the magic behind.
After owning my own business for years, working for somebody else was different. There were pros and cons, but I missed being my own boss. The company was also going through changes, and I started wondering what I could create in Sonoma.
In Los Angeles, I’d had an idea for a vintage five-and-dime store. I had looked around but never found the right location.
One morning on my way to work, the light bulb went on: this could be the place for it.
I first looked at a space on Broadway that was available to sublet. On my way there, I took a different route from the one Cheryl had shown me when I first arrived. I went down Second Street, turned onto East Napa Street, and saw another space with a lease sign.
I thought, “That’s an interesting little space.”
The sublet didn’t work out. So I went back, got the number for the East Napa Street space, and made the call.
That’s the space I’ve been in for 21 years.
There was a funny connection to it, too. Not long after I moved here, my sister and brother-in-law visited. We had dinner at Cafe La Haye and walked across the street afterward.
At the time, I had an enormous carrot collection—about 30 years’ worth. Little carrots, big fabric carrots, carrots all through my kitchen and dining room.
The gallery across the street had a beautiful carrot bowl in the window. We went back the next morning, and I bought it. That was my first carrot purchase in Sonoma, in what turned out to be my own store’s location.
As I prepared to open, things kept coming together. I found furniture and displays in Benicia that I still use. I had nowhere to put them during the build-out, and the leasing agent stored them in his barn for me.
I remember talking with a friend in Los Angeles. He said, “Well, if you’re going to do it…”
And I said, “It’s not an if. I am going to do it.”
While I was building out the store, I went to Sonoma Market one day for lunch. There were all these people around, and I thought, “This is what I’m missing when I go to work in Petaluma.”
Being in town all day was different. The store became another social connection.
I love that people come in happy. They’re traveling, they’re on vacation, and they tell you their stories. You can learn a lot about somebody in a short time. It makes me feel as though I’m always on vacation too.
Then there’s pickleball, cards, mahjong, going to the gym, and the temple. There’s a lot of crossover. People you meet through one activity turn up in another.
Once that wheel is in motion, you just pick up more pieces as you go.
Sonoma is still magical to me. I love walking into town, seeing the glow of the Sebastiani Theatre, and hearing the clink of glasses and conversations around the Plaza in summertime.
It’s a full life, and it’s a good life. It’s a really good life.
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Heidi built community through repeated participation in several settings. Overlapping friendships helped those connections deepen, while her store brought work and social life into the same town. Her experience shows how a local business can become both a livelihood and a place for everyday exchanges with residents and visitors.
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This story was created from an interview with Heidi Geffen conducted by Don Lundgren. Heidi’s words have been edited for length and clarity while preserving her voice, experiences and meaning.
