For an unbelievable 25 years, Loloâs Consignment has been part of the fabric of St. Helena and the larger Napa Valley.
I can still remember the day we opened in September of 1996 in what is now The Wydown Hotel, known then as âThe Donaldson Building.â At the end of that first day, a friend inquired as to how it went and I answered with wonder, âpeople came in and actually bought things.â
Loloâs (my daughter Laurenâs nicknameâshe was 5 years old at the time) was the end result of a business plan written originally to be a childrenâs resale store. However, that opening dayâs store inventory included womenâs and menâs clothing as well as a few painted chests and tchotchkes.
Twelve months into the pandemic, I was still pretty happy to stay mostly at home, cooking, reading, online shopping and hopping between Netflix, Hulu, YouTube TV and Amazon Prime to fill out the corners of my day. It was quite cozy. Maybe itâs the sudden onset of mustard that signaling an outbreak of spring fever, but cozy has become a bit boring. I miss travel and I miss hotels.
In order to mimic a hotel experience at home, we have to become our own concierge, our own room service and our own maid, but hopefully with a few tricks, you can perform these tasks efficiently and have plenty of time to enjoy the environment youâve created.