The Guild opens its doors in Camarillo
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers WELCOME—Camarillo residents Sam and Marianne Tangora are surrounded by seasonal ornaments in their shop, The Guild, on Carmen Drive. The store, which sells home decor items, gifts and furniture, relocated from Thousand Oaks to Camarillo in April and has been doing well.

When Marianne and Sam Tangora closed the Crafters Guild in Thousand Oaks last year, their customers were so eager for the store to reopen they helped the entrepreneurs scout for vacant buildings.

Marianne said she received as many as 10 calls a week from customers asking when she would reopen the store.

For a year the Tangoras, who live in Camarillo, looked for a vacancy in the Conejo Valley but found nothing in their price range. Then they noticed a vacant storefront in Camarillo's Carmen Plaza. The former tenant was willing to sublease, and the Tangoras opened The Guild in April.

A former sales rep for a wholesale company, Marianne quit her job in 1989 to stay home with her infant son. To earn extra income, she went to yard sales and bought unrefined items—mismatched candle holders, outdated floral arrangements, stuffed bears, etc.— that she could turn into handcrafted items. She built up an inventory and rented shelf space at the Thousand Oaks Crafters Guild in the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks. Her crafts became so popular that she soon had to rent a booth in the store.

Business flourished, and in 2001 the Tangoras bought The Crafters Guild. They were forced to close last year, however, when the landlord tripled the rent.

Despite a sour national economy, the Camarillo store is doing well. Since opening in April, The Guild has seen sales go up 20 percent, Marianne said.

"The foot traffic is so much better," she said of the store flanked by Trader Joe's and Big Lots.

The Tangoras rent space in the 6,000-square-foot store to more than 30 vendors who sell an assortment of unique items, some of them handcrafted. Among the available merchandise are clocks, canisters, candles, ironwork wall decor, quilts, pillows, collectibles, dolls, jewelry, glass- and stemware, and small and large furniture.

Almost everything in the store is discounted, Marianne said.

"It's definitely the variety and prices . . . that people are so excited about," she said. "You name it, we have it in here."

The Tangoras also sell items of their own, mostly furniture.

To keep prices down, the storekeepers buy in bulk and pick up the items themselves to avoid freight costs. Despite the record high prices of gasoline last summer, it was still cheaper to pick up merchandise from several Southern California suppliers in one trip than it was to pay shipping costs, Marianne said.

In addition to their low prices, Sam said, he, Marianne and their three employees give their customers superior service.

"I try to greet everybody that comes through that door, and I try to remember every customer's name," Sam said.

First-time customer Sue Skenderian was out on a recent afternoon looking for a unique holiday gift for a longtime friend. Riding in her cart as she shopped at The Guild were a family of five rag dolls—two large, three small—that appeared to be made from gingerbread. Wanting three more small dolls to represent her friend's six grandchildren, Skenderian asked Marianne if she could order more.

"I like the store," Skenderian said, as Marianne left to phone the vendor. "And I was happy to find something just to fit (my friend)."

Bonne London and Crystal Jordan came in for a garden bench— a gift for Jordan's boyfriend. The women found one but decided it looked too feminine. Continuing to browse the store, London said she liked the dog figurines in one aisle, and Jordan said she favored the crystal chandeliers in the back but had no place to hang one.

"I'm going to think about it, though, figure out where I can put it," she said.

The Guild is at 359 Carmen Drive in Camarillo. Call (805) 987-2345 for more information.