Jul 26, 2009

To brighten your day: Store offers, books, gifts, ice creamBy Tonya BinaSkyHiDailyNews.com

“It’s my happy place,” said Tallie Gray about her new store location in Granby.

Gray finds bliss in retail, but mostly as the seller, not the shopper.

When she was 5, she would peddle donuts to people waiting in long lines for gasoline during the 1970s oil embargo.

“My dad gave me a little wagon and I would go up and down selling donuts and coffee,” she said. “I just wanted to make people happy. I know it’s conducive to inner happiness, too.”

But shopper, she is not.

“I’m not a shopper myself. I actually hate shopping. I don’t ever go to the malls,” she said.

A bright-yellow painted exterior with a hand-painted ice cream cone Gray crafted herself creates a warm welcome at her Granby store.

Called The Sun Piper, after Gray’s middle name Piper, the store offers ice cream, books and a variety of gifts.

She painted the sun illustration on the sign that beckons Highway 40 drivers in for a treat. When she did so, she thought of adding, “Gifts that Brighten Your Day.”

“I knew I wanted something with a sun,” she said.

Out the door from where she offers scoops of Dryers ice-cream is a patio seating area open to a view of the mountains and SolVista ski basin.

“It’s kind of my sanctuary. I love sitting back here and checking out the view,” Gray said during a lull before two boys came into the store for morning floats.

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