The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by Skye Dunlap Window of Opportunity: New owner Wendy Pacheco has revamped the Willow Glen Attic and redubbed the store Veranda. Wendy Pacheco re-opens Willow Glen Attic as Veranda to celebrate store's fresh look New owner wants her place to carry items not already found in the Glen By Michelle Ku After changing ownership and being closed for nearly four months, Willow Glen Attic re-opened with a splash last week. Purchased by Wendy Pacheco, the old attic has been re-created as Veranda, an eclectic store that offers home furnishings, bedding and bath, baby and antique items. "I wanted the store to be very eclectic. I wanted to mix the old and new. I wanted the store to always be different every time you come in, and in every corner you turn, you find something unusual," Pacheco said. "I wanted to always give the sense that you want to come back because you never know what you can find here." While Veranda has been open since Oct. 17, Pacheco won't be holding an open house until Nov. 14. Refreshments will be served, and Pacheco is planning a special surprise as well. Pacheco opened the store the day after the cabinets she ordered finally arrived. She and her staff worked late into the night and threw open the doors to the Veranda the next morning. "We had about 20 people at the door just waiting to get in. They were so excited to get in. It was busy all day long, and at one point there were, like, 50 people in the store. You couldn't walk around. It was an obstacle course," Pacheco said. Merchandise in the store ranges from lamps to plants, artwork to bath products and rugs to patio furniture. Veranda also offers a wide selection of candles and a baby section with baby clothes, bedding and bath products, said store manager Majbritt Rayas. "[Veranda] has an eclectic touch to it. We have new and old. We have everything for the home and a lot of gifts and accessories," she said. Even with such a wide array of products, Veranda places a special emphasis on bed linens. The store carries a line of bed linens by Peacock Alley. Pacheco has always had an interest in bed linens since she was a child staring in the windows of The Maid's Quarters, a Los Gatos store. "I used to just sit and stare at the windows when I walked by, and I dreamed of having beautiful bed linens like the ones in the window," she said. Veranda is a reflection of the things Pacheco loves most and her attempt to fill a gap of goods missing from the Avenue. "The people who own Casa Casa are really good friends of mine, and I didn't want to create a conflict with them so I went toward things that weren't here," she said. "I really wanted to cater to what was lacking in Willow Glen so people wouldn't have to go to the mall." Pacheco plans to hold trunk shows in her store to showcase designers or products. The shows will give customers the opportunity to meet the designers and artists of various products. Veranda will be serving appetizers, sparkling water and champagne at the shows. "It's another fun thing to make it another eclectic part of the store," Pacheco said. The first trunk show is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. Carla Loboat from Mademoiselle Camille will display the handmade gloves, shawls, wraps and jewelry she creates. The second trunk show, approximately two weeks after the first show, is a pajama party. Veranda carries pajamas that come in a sack, and Pacheco wants to market them. Originally, Pacheco planned on keeping the store name the same, but as she continued to remodel the store and order inventory, it didn't feel right. "I wanted to keep the name Willow Glen Attic for the community because it had been here for so many years. I really felt that would be a good thing to do, but at the same time, I felt that I was kind of doing somebody else's store. It didn't feel like mine even though I was building a store from the ground up," Pacheco said. One day a customer walked into the store as Pacheco was getting ready to open and asked her if she thought about changing the name. Pacheco said she had, and the customer encouraged her to do so. "As I asked people, they felt the same way. I kept hearing from a lot of people in the community to do something new and different," she said. "Willow Glen Attic was its own store, and this is a new store with a brand-new look." Once Pacheco made the decision to change the name of the store. choosing a name was simple. She wanted something catchy with a French feel to it because she patterned the store to approximate a Parisian atmosphere. She was afraid to use a French word because she didn't want it to be too hard to pronounce. The one name Pacheco kept on returning to over and over was Veranda. Veranda is the first store that Pacheco has owned. Pacheco purchased the Willow Glen Attic from longtime owners Larry Thiboutot and Todd Dance in July. Thiboutot sold the Attic so he could retire to the home he purchased in New England. Veranda is located at 1395 Lincoln Ave., at the corner of Minnesota Avenue. Call 288-7606. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, except Thursday, when the store closes at 8 p.m.; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday; Veranda is closed on Mondays. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, October 28, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.