Sonja Horn was looking for a way to retire from running her gift shop in Montrose when she got a call asking if she’d be interested in opening a second location in Ridgway.
So rather than an “exit strategy,” Horn ended up with a satellite location for her homewares, toy and gift shop, Fabula. She’s excited about the unexpected turn and will open at 380 Sherman St. in Ridgway in late spring.
“I just felt like it was a good place to be,” she said.
Susan Baker, who owns the Sherman Street commercial building and used to operate Lupita’s Bizarre Bazaar in the space Horn will fill, approached Horn after locals recommended the Montrose-based gift shop for the space. Horn had only known Baker through shopping at Lupita’s but loved the space, so she decided to go for it.
Horn opened Fabula in Montrose in 2012 after retiring from a career as a surgical nurse. Montrose didn’t have a gift shop or a kitchen goods shop at the time, and she wanted to change that.
Before beginning nursing school in Germany, where she’s originally from, Horn worked an internship with a family who owned a homeware and gift store similar to Fabula that she loved.
And in the interim between her tenure as a nurse and opening the shop, she worked as a homeware sales representative. She brought those experiences together to create Fabula, which sells a medley of gifts, toys and high-end kitchenware such as Breville devices, Scanpan nonstick cookware and colorful dishes.
Horn is also proud to sell many Ravensburger puzzles and games, since she grew up nearby the company’s namesake German town.
The Ridgway location will specially offer more Colorado-centric and Ridgway-specific souvenirs, considering its bigger tourism base, Horn said. She’s ensuring those items are either locally designed or made, and somewhat functional, like baseball caps, rather than gimmicks.
She also values a neighborly business, so she will try to not sell specialty items already being sold by other local businesses. For example, she browsed at O’Toys in Ouray and found it carried fewer toys for younger kids, so she stocked her shelves with those.
She wants customers to know her loyalty reward will work in both locations: a 15% off discount every fifth visit.
She looks forward to being part of the Ridgway business community and holding a grand opening in late spring where she’ll offer free food and drinks.
For more information about the business visit fabulagifts.com.
