Two Petaluma stores say goodbye

Wayne mans his post at Jungle Vibes Gift & Toy Emporium

It’s a sad week in Petaluma.  Two favorite stores are submitting to the hard times and shuttering their windows.

Jungle Vibes (136 Petaluma Blvd S, Petaluma), the nature and science toy store with an edge, is inviting the public in to say their last goodbyes and possibly snag some bargains after 18 years in business. The inventory sale is almost over, but a few things still line the shelves waiting to be picked up extremely low prices.  They’ll be selling off all fixtures come Wed Feb 1 at 9am.  Larger items (like the gumball machine, espresso machine, large pirate, and more) will be available for viewing and bidding all day and awarded at a food and wine event at 5:30pm that evening.   View the press release here.

StarStruck owners Melanie and Craig modeling snakes at the 2011 Salute to American Graffiti event

And equally sad is the closing of StarStruck Boutique & Art Gallery (123 Kentucky St, Petaluma).  Their brick walls have housed many a talented artist, mixed in with fashions of yesterday and today.  Live music events only added to the store’s rock star feel, as did the live window models adorned with snakes at events like the Butter & Eggs Day Parade or Salute to American Graffiti.  But this news isn’t all sad, because the store is leaving its brick and mortar building and turning exclusively to online sales at the soon-to-be-launched sweetandunique.com.  It will include the best-of StarStruck apparel, hand blended fragrance oils, custom made jewelry, and more.  In the meantime, look for blowout prices at the store until it closes forever on February 29th, and be sure to attend the Going Away party on February 18th that will include treats by Cucina Bella Catering, live music by Aldo Garibaldi and Vickie Guillory & the Sugarcats, as well as the ongoing liquidation sale (including fixtures, mannequins, etc) of everything in the store.  Keep updated at facebook.com/StarstruckBoutique.

We’ll miss you both!