Berkely's on the mall & Rodders...my gramma was a buyer

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Do you remember the Country Boys Market with its wooden floors? Walter Smiths was the place to go for clothes on the Fulton Mall. Penny Candy had great blacklight posters and don't forget Whitie's Pet Store on Blackstone. What vintage retail do you remember growing up in Fresno?
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LisaMarquise
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Berkely's on the mall & Rodders...my gramma was a buyer

Post by LisaMarquise » Tue Feb 12, 2013 11:17 am

My gramma was the jewelry and accessories buyer for Berkely's when it was on the Fulton Mall. Later she was at Rodder's in Fashion Fair. Berkely's was THE most elegant, beautiful store in Fresno. It had a pretty metal staircase and glittering jewelry counters downstairs. I loved to go visit her there and thought it was so glamorous. She had great taste and worked there for many years buying lines like Schiaparelli hosiery and some of the first 1928 Jewelry Company pieces (which started as a home business in the 70's and is a huge mfr today).

She helped inspire me to be a fashion designer, and even bought jewelry I made when I was 16/17 for the store. I made pounded and twisted copper wire chokers and earrings in abstract shapes and crosses. After HS (Iwent to Sierra), I wanted to go to FIDM in LA. She took me to there and we stayed at the old Hilton Los Angeles. I thought she was the most elegant and sophisticated woman in the world, but she was down to Earth too, growing up traveling in the mountains without very much.

She was a self made woman, and she made me believe I could be anything I wanted to be too. I did become a designer as an adult, and worked at Disneyland, where I designed costumes for the last Electrical Parade that went from 2001 to 2011 in California Adventure. So whenever people make fun of Fresno, I know they aren't from there, because we had it all.

LisaMarquise
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:44 am
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Re: Berkely's on the mall & Rodders...my gramma was a buyer

Post by LisaMarquise » Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:29 pm

My grandmother's name was Janet Barron.

Carl Bailey

Re: Berkely's on the mall & Rodders...my gramma was a buyer

Post by Carl Bailey » Fri May 22, 2015 4:05 pm

I do remember your gramma. I worked at Berkey's for 6 months, in the very early 70s, then I went on to the new Weinstock's FF as the first Department Manager of the Men's Dept. Indeed your gramma was a fine lady. I remember going with her and another buyer (I don't rember her name, but she was also a fine lady) to the market in San Francisco.

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