Heather and Holly’s Hidden Treasures debuts in downtown Long Beach
Published 7:08 am Monday, June 17, 2024
- An antique milk can and violin, pictured inside Heather & Holly’s Hidden Treasures at 312 Pacific Ave. South in Long Beach.
LONG BEACH — It started with storage auctions and eventually blossomed into a family business.
Heather & Holly’s Hidden Treasures officially opened on Friday, June 14, at 312 Pacific Ave. in Long Beach, across the street from Hungry Harbor Grille.
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Heather & Holly’s Hidden Treasures
Heather Albornoz, owner
312 Pacific Ave. South, Long Beach
971-292-8673
The new store offers an array of vintage outdoor gear and antique collectibles, including Lenox tableware, Fenton glassware and Monet trinkets among a growing inventory that’s anticipated to be added in the coming days.
Storage unit auctions lead to store
Originally from Iowa before moving to Battle Ground in Clark County, Heather Albornoz relocated to Ocean Park a couple of years ago. She initially considered opening a bakery before storage auctions led her down another path.
“We were finding a bunch of antiques,” explained Gabriel, Heather’s 17-year-old son who will be helping out at the store.
The surprise and suspense of winning auctioned storage units and the potential treasures they contained became a favorite family event.
“It’s just amazing what you could find in those units sometimes,” Heather said.
“It was just something all of our family could do together.”
Often the auctions were like treasure hunts, including one of the most memorable finds: A five-gallon bucket filled with old coins.
“But we find little treasures in all of them, like this little vase,” Heather said while holding an ornate Fenton vase, an American glass company founded by the Fenton brothers in Ohio in 1905.
“When we first started it was like that show (Storage Wars, with in-person bidding), but now it’s all online.”
A tribute to her twin sisterThe store name (Heather and Holly’s Hidden Treasures) tributes Heather’s late twin sister, Holly.
The family became aware of the Long Beach location, which formerly housed The Wooden Horse, through word-of-mouth. Hours are still being determined, but the initial plan is to open daily at 9 a.m. until the traffic patterns are better determined, Heather said. They will be adding more inventory in the coming days, including furniture.
“We still have a lot more to put in the store,” Gabriel summed up.
