After 71 years, Palace Art & Office Supply leaves downtown Santa Cruz
A fixture in downtown Santa Cruz for more than seven decades, Palace Art & Office Supply has departed its Pacific Avenue storefront to consolidate operations in its Capitola location, store owners announced Monday.
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“This was not an easy decision for us to make,” Palace President Roy Trowbridge said on the company’s website. “But it is the best option for us to be able to continue to serve our loyal customers and staff.”
Downtown Santa Cruz “has changed considerably since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March,” the company’s announcement goes on to state. “As an exclusively brick-and-mortar business, Palace has long relied on a steady stream of foot traffic from the movie theater, downtown restaurants, and students — all of which has diminished.”
Palace’s customers over the years have included teachers, families seeking kids’ arts and crafts, and people taking art classes at its locations. The downtown Santa Cruz location was at 1407 Pacific. Its Capitola location is at 1501-K 41st Avenue.
Here’s the full announcement:
As of January 1st, 2021, Palace Art & Office Supply has moved out of our Downtown Santa Cruz location and consolidated retail operations into our existing Capitola store. This change does not impact our sister company, Palace Business Solutions which focuses on business to business products and services.
Palace will continue to operate out of our long-time location at 1501-K 41st Avenue in Capitola. “The Capitola store is much more flexible and offers expansive free parking,” says Mark Rispaud, Director of Operations. “With a larger store space, we are able to carry a broader selection of products.” The Capitola store has long held a wider range of educational products for kids and teachers than its Downtown counterpart. The location also includes a large classroom space where demonstrations and workshops will be held again when it’s safe to do so.
“This was not an easy decision for us to make,” says Roy Trowbridge, President. “But it is the best option for us to be able to continue to serve our loyal customers and staff.”
The Downtown Santa Cruz retail landscape has changed considerably since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. As an exclusively brick-and-mortar business, Palace has long relied on a steady stream of foot traffic from the movie theater, downtown restaurants, and students — all of which has diminished.
Palace Art & Office Supply operated out of four different Downtown addresses over the 71 years since it was purchased by Col. Frank Trowbridge as Palace Stationers in 1949. In that time, we have endured its fair share of community hardships, including the 1955 flood, 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and the economic downturn of 2008. Through it all, we have persisted thanks to the support of a loyal customer base that spans generations and a determined mindset. As Trowbridge says,“just keep going.”