Jul 22, 2010

New owner watches the trendsBy Patricia Drey BusseSWCBulletin.com

The challenging thing about the gift shop business is that nobody needs what you sell, said the new owner of the Cottage Grove Hallmark Gold Crown store.

“It’s not like the grocery store where you have to go every week, and so we work hard to make it more exciting and more fun to keep people coming back regularly,” said Brad Boogren, who now runs the store at 7282 E. Point Douglas Road near Rainbow Foods and American Motorsports Bar and Grill.

Rubber bands in all colors and shapes that kids like to trade and Japanese collectible erasers are the hot items right now, he said.

Boogren, along with partner Jon Goodrich, bought the Cottage Grove store and the Hastings Hallmark store from Ric and Judy Claydon on July 1.

Boogren may have some new stores, but the Cottage Grove resident is definitely not new to the business.

His parents owned a drug store in St. Paul, which expanded to include a Hallmark section in the mid-’70s, and then Boogren opened his own Hallmark Gold Crown store in White Bear Lake in 1988.

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