GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Longtime customer Sue Tomczak can't believe she'll have to say goodbye to Floto's Gifts, a shop that's been in downtown Grand Haven since the 1940s.
The owner of the antique and gift shop said he plans to close by the end of the summer and believes he’ll be able to sell everything in the store. The shop has been a popular destination for locals and tourists alike for 78 years.
"It's a novelty store, everybody loves those old five-and-dime novelty stores,” Sue Tomczak said. "It's just the turquoise sign outside that brings you in because it's such a cool color, and it brings you into the big shop and all the novelty stuff they have for kids makes me remember coming in here and buying little trinkets and things that you could bring to the beach, like your sand toys your mood rings and the finger puppets and everything else."
The store first opened in 1946 as Floto's Home Appliances but was gutted by a fire in 1955 and closed for a short time. It later reopened as Floto's Gifts, quickly becoming a popular shop on Washington Avenue.
"All my customers that have come in say they bought things here years and years ago, and they still use it,” Paul Ellingboe said. "Everybody’s very thankful and glad that we've been here for so long and I'm happy to do it, but the customers have been great, that's what kept us in business for sure."
Customers old and new are grabbing the last of what's left in the vintage gift shop, from glasses to silverware, to furniture and paintings.
"We came here to celebrate my birthday and we really love Grand Haven, we've been here several times, we love the beach, but we just stumbled upon this shop and it's a pretty neat little shop,” Liana Toth said.
Owner Paul Ellingboe said he's worked at the shop since he was a little boy, helping out his grandmother. Since then, it's been passed down to three generations and after a decades-long ride, Ellingboe said it's time.
"I'm choosing to retire now because life's too short, you have to do things that are other than work I haven't been able to enjoy a beach day in years, but I will now after retirement.”