Marysville's D Street sees boutique bonanza

Rosa Zermeno, 27, wanted to own a bridal shop since she was in the third grade, and has had her business plan ready to go since 2001.

Samantha Gush, 32, was looking for an office space on D Street late last year and decided — on the spur of the moment — to open a pet store.

The two women couldn't be more different in background or approach. But they opened boutiques across the street from one another the very same week, and already have tentative plans to collaborate on promotional events that include pet weddings and fashion shows.

Despite economic indicators that have made most Americans — especially in modest towns like Marysville — risk averse, several intrepid entrepreneurs have opened businesses on Marysville's downtown streets in the past year, including Zermeno's Z Bridal Gallery and Gush's His and Hers Pet Shop.

Other downtown newcomers include a children's art studio, barber shop, Thai restaurant, palm reader and a vintage clothing and antique store.

"There's more coming in than going out," says Don Blaser, president of the Marysville Business Improvement District and owner of The Brick coffeehouse and cafe.

"We're not affected, so far, by any so-called recession," he says.

Z BRIDAL GALLERY

As a kid growing up in Marysville, Rosa Zermeno used to tell her father about her dream of owning a bridal shop.

"It was always my goal," says the petite mother of four. She looks around at her spacious showroom and smiles. "This is honestly what I envisioned the whole time."

After graduating from Lindhurst High School, she attended the Art Institute of California in Sacramento and earned a two-year degree in fashion merchandising.

"I had my (bridal shop) business plan ready to go when I graduated," she says. But she had a lot to learn first.

She managed women's clothing stores for a national chain, an eight- year career during which she helped close an unsuccessful shop in Yuba Sutter Mall and open a brand new one in downtown Sacramento.

Her duties included accounting, bookkeeping, personnel management, and contracting plumbers, tile workers and other construction trades at the new site — all skills she knew would come in handy when she went into business for herself.

Two years ago, she began shopping for just the right space. Plumas Street was on the list of considerations, "but their prices are outrageous," Zermeno says. Ditto for a new strip mall in Olivehurst.

The former interior design shop she chose on D Street met all the requirements, including hardwood floors, good lighting, and reasonable rent, she says.

Her husband built two large fitting rooms, mounted shelves and racks for shoes and gowns, and engineered the display windows.

The store opened on April 27th, too late for the big May-June wedding season, but just in time for prom and graduation season.

Zermeno's shop features a popular line of bridal gowns that aren't sold elsewhere in Northern California, a fact that has already brought in business from Sacramento and elsewhere in the state, she says.

The first gown she sold was for a wedding in Los Angeles.

She sets her seven-month-old son, Emiliano, down in a play area behind the counter, and helps a future bride shop for jewelry.

"I love this small hometown," she says. "This is going to work out nice."

HIS AND HERS PET SHOP

Samantha Gush, a Plumas Lake resident, wanted her husband to stop commuting every day to the pet supply manufacturing company he owns and operates in Foster City.

The office she found for him on D between 3rd and 4th Streets was part of a retail space. Before the thought had fully formed in her brain, she says, she announced her decision to open a pet supply store there.

Her May 3rd grand opening came a mere five and a half months later.

In addition to dog collars, leashes and harnesses designed by her husband and made by Cetacea, his pet products company, the store features specialty products that cater to the farthest ends of the dog and cat owner spectrum.

"It's foo-foo she-she on one side," Gush says, pointing out a rack of pet dresses and bridal gowns, handmade animal jewelry, and a pink silk canopy dog bed from Nieman Marcus.

"It's manly stud dog on the other side," she says, pointing out non-reflective gunmetal clasps on hunting dog collars, "and manly poo poo bags."

A new state law that requires dogs to be strapped in when traveling in a car or pickup is likely to make some of Cetacea's specialty products big sellers, she says.

Among edible things Gush sells are organic pet foods, kangaroo tails, emu femurs, bull "pizzles" — sex organs, some that are 36" long — and cake-like treats with colorful sprinkles displayed in a special clear showcase.

"Birthday parties for dogs are really big right now. Huge," she says. "So you gotta have your pup cakes."

She will launch her own new product — the pet shampoo bar — at this year's Marysville Peach Festival.

Customers can dispense pre-measured essential oils of all kinds — flea control, dry skin blends or special aromas such as peach — into a pet shampoo base. They can bring back their empty bottle and get a refill at a discount, Gush explains. She plans to market the idea to other pet supply stores.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Nancy Pasternack at 749-4712 or at npasternack@appealdemocrat.com