Mission Galleria
The Mission Galleria has been around for over 20 years and is owned by Craig Johnson. This store sells a lot of wacky and whimsical hodge podge of weird, used, old and new items. All the items in the store are constantly changing. This store is 54,000 square feet of amazing. It is located at 3700 Main Street and is filled with a lot of items from dishes and doilies to stuffed deer head mounts to super comfy sofas. There are around 30 employees to help out when needed.
The original building is actually the 90-year-old Sears building which is located across the street from the Mission Inn and now it is a growing emporium that comes with a lot of items from 150 dealers. If you aren’t able to sell your items here, then you won’t be able to anywhere.
Johnson offers a month to month contract and will charge between $2.50 to $2.75 per square foot of area and will take a 12% fee from every dealer’s monthly gross.
Some of the dealers have prices that range from $2 to over $1000, some have options to rent more than just one space within the Mission Galleria and often times it is filled with tchotchkes, glassware, Lladro & Hummel figures that people may get from auctions and estate sales. There is a whole lot of foot traffic, but when the Festival of Lights comes around, it is filled wall to wall with shoppers from everywhere.
According to recent data, most of the customers are women who do not shop online. They often just come in here to treasure shop and find something that really catches their eyes.
Since the recent updates, they now serve meals, which has turned it from just an antique shop to a great destination. There were 4 different eateries, but due to some issues with patrons eating at areas that were trying to be sold, Johnson had the idea to open his own restaurant.
Johnson expanded the building and registered for a wine and beer license and built a bar with an after-hours lounge, installed sprinkler systems and really gave the whole Galleria a facelift. Then he opened the Hideaway, which is a café by day and lounge by night, and it serves affordable, yet healthy food until 1 AM.
Very similar to the theme inside, the Hideaway has a décor that is just a mixture of themes that incorporates everything from swamp motif, Victorian tea parties, life sized pirate, fake trees and foliage, antique and more.
The Hideaway, really draws a crowd in. A lot of patrons compliment the prices and the food that is served and always love the whole atmosphere of the Mission Galleria. Eventually, Johnson will be adding in a coffee shop that will be located upstairs and it will be named Cup’pa Joe and after 8pm it is going to be an extension for the Hideaway and will serve drinks and food.