Gracie's Emporium gives owner a chance to start anew, fresh and sober

Nicole C. Brambila • mydesert.com • December 14th, 2011

Gracie is a rescue — a long-haired Chihuahua that Suzanne Nuñez adopted nearly a year ago.

The skinny golden-brown pooch came along just as Nuñez was getting sober and looking for a life change.

“Sometimes I say to her she's my saving grace,” says Nuñez, 47.

Her four-legged friend is the namesake of the boutique Nuñez had dreamed of opening for years, Gracie's Emporium. The shop opened in Old Town on Nov. 22.

The foot traffic has “been pretty constant,” says LeAnn DeGroot, the store manager.

“Everybody says, ‘I came in to buy a gift and got something for myself.' People shouldn't have to go anywhere else to shop.”

Nuñez's store hasn't been open a month yet and already she's talking about expanding.

A native of Seattle, where coffee shops and bookstores are as ubiquitous as popcorn at the movie theater, Nuñez has always wanted to own a bookstore where patrons could also buy a cup o' joe.

“I'm a huge reader. I love books,” Nuñez says, adding that she goes through spells but mostly reads nonfiction right now.

Books, she says, give her that comfy curled-up-in-a-blanket feel.

Her gift shop has a back room with best-sellers and other titles like “Salsas of the World,” “Fifty More Places to Golf” and “Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs.”

The store opens into the Old Town Coffee Company, where Nuñez has been a regular customer since moving to La Quinta four years ago and where she can get her java fix — a decaf mocha.

Every nook of Gracie's Emporium's 2,000 square feet is bursting with color and eclectic gift ideas that range from dinosaur backpacks and Palm Springs dish towels to California-made Caron Miller scarves and Sally Spicer handbags.

It even has a hidden nook with educational items for children because Nuñez is a self-described “big kid at heart.”

“I wanted very unique items that hopefully others would enjoy as much as I do,” she says. “The things I was unsure of, I had Boni's help.”

Boni Wall formerly owned Just Boni at Home in Old Town. Today she's a buyer for Gracie's.

With a Norman Rockwell-like soda fountain and cabin walls that remind Nuñez of the better-weather months she spent on Treasure Island as a kid with her grandparents, the store reflects back pieces of her.

“She knew a lot of people to come to her aid and help her,” says Nance Carter, a longtime friend who helped with the interior design of the store.

“She's trusting and caring. She's all the values you love to see in people that are rare these days where people are so greedy and self-absorbed.”

In a moment of self-reflection, she confesses the boutique is an extension of herself — and she finds that a little frightening. But fear has been a powerfully moving and positive force in her life. It's what motivated her to sober up after 20 years of hard drinking.

“I got scared,” Nuñez says. “I just knew if I didn't quit, it was going to kill me a lot sooner than later. I'm grateful for the tremendous fear that I felt. If I hadn't got scared enough, the store wouldn't have happened.”

Nuñez celebrates a year of sobriety in January.

Having opened her doors for business in a tight-fisted credit environment and a protracted recession, Nuñez did get “a few frowns” from lenders but faced no real obstacles.

“I just truly believe things happen when they're supposed to,” she says. “I was ready for a lot of dreams to start happening. I was ready for them to come to fruition instead of daydreaming the rest of my life.”