2023 Update!

The official name of our corporation is Tselaine Enterprises, Inc.

Y2K was looming.  I had some cash in a drawer in case the credit cards stopped working on 1/1/2000.  I was ready to be a different person.  The idea was to quit the corporate world and to have my jewelry wholesale business, do some retail craft shows, and have a bunch of “things” under this bigger umbrella of Tselaine Enterprises.  “Things” was definitely a nebulous catch all.

Around 2006, I went shopping in a tiny boutique at 20th and Walnut with my friend Page and thought it was the perfect sized space to sell my jewelry.  Never did I imagine that a short time later, it would be up for rent and I would have Jes run over and slap on a coat of paint in there and we would have a retail location.  (There were a few interim steps along the way, but not enough time for those stories.)  Laura was back from her amazing time teaching in Japan and was looking for a job and I said, “Wanna run a store?”   That was about 14 years ago.  

Time and space have lost all meaning to me in the pandemic years.  The shutdown in 2020 forced us into a HUGE pivot.  Laura retired to be a full time mom (LOL>> I have asked if she would come out of retirement and the answer is still no).  Shoptselaine.com and our toy business (Maileg Mice to be specific) have evolved to be a significant part of Tselaine, Inc.  I have now decided to port most of our online toy fulfillment to Northern California and am finishing the paperwork on that as we speak.  Yes.  The store is in Philly and I physically am in NorCal.  Time and space…  It’s all in the cloud, so who cares where our physical beings reside?

For the past few years, I have been looking for a new manager that held the same vision for our tiny little store, and I have finally found the amazing and wonderful person that is Major.  Please stop by and say hi to them when you get a chance!  (This happened a little while ago, but the time and space thing….)

People wondered why, in January 2023, we were only open Wednesday - Sunday.  We needed a little time to cocoon and rest.  Major and I have been formulating how the tiny store is going to look in the future.  Why do brick and mortar stores exist?  What are we to the community?  We love supporting our local schools and charities.  So, like a caterpillar that dissolved itself to reform itself into a better version of ourselves, we are coming back out of the cocoon in February to be open 7 days a week again with a stronger focus on local products, quirky products that you would have never found online or on Amazon, and trunk shows with really cool artists and people that you want to meet.  So, stay tuned!

Thanks for being our people and keeping the retail magic alive,

Elaine