Fremont's Wise Olde Owl gift shop celebrates 10th anniversary

When Brian Seil first pitched the idea of opening a gift shop in downtown Fremont more than 10 years ago, his partner Thom Ender initially expressed skepticism.

"Brian always wanted to do it, he just wanted to open a gift shop. It's something he's wanted," Ender said. "I grew up, my parents had a little store – I knew how much work owning your own business is. I know that it's not 9 to 5, it's, you know, 6 to midnight, and so I was kind of reluctant."

Seil eventually wore Ender down with his exuberant enthusiasm.

"It was his dream, so I said, 'OK, I will do it,'" Ender said. "It's more fun than I ever thought, ever dreamed it could be. I wish I had done it earlier."

No longer a dream, the Wise Olde Owl gift shop has withstood the test of time and commerce to become a staple of Fremont's historic downtown district.

"It feels great," Ender said. "We've been lucky and honored to grow ... I mean, we've grown into each location and we're continuing to grow."

Ender gestured to the books lining the shelves of the Owl's latest growth spurt, the Purple Dragon Paper Co., which is located adjacent to the gift shop.

"It's all because our customers are able to support us," Ender said. "We're really proud and humbled at the same time that not only have we been enough to survive for 10 years, through floods and COVID and all the other things that have affected the economy, but we've been able to grow and expand and keep moving."

The Owl's first location was a little farther south on Main Street and its second location was a block away from that. With each move, the Owl grew into a larger space until it couldn't grow any further.

The Owl's perch for the last four years, 516 N. Main St., encompasses three levels and is filled to the brim with everything from whimsical to holy to the macabre — irreverent greeting cards and coasters, carved wooden figurines, Jellycat stuffed animals, Christmas-themed snowglobes, baptism and communion gifts, board games and a lot of Halloween decor.

In fact, the entire third floor is nothing but ghosts and ghouls, witches and skeletons, year-round.

"Halloween is how we started, because we, when we traveled, we would always go to the local stores," Ender said. "And if we saw Halloween, we were always excited. It was like, 'oh, they have Halloween,' and so we knew there was a market for it, because there were people like us that would be looking for Halloween all year 'round. And sure enough, we've sold it."

Here, Ender did some quick math — 10 years times 12 months per year equals 120 months.

"We've sold (Halloween) 120 months, including the months when we were shut down, we sold Halloween, which was, like, in May (2020)," he said.

Hitting the 10-year mark is an accomplishment that Seil and Ender weren't sure they were going to reach at first. When the store first opened, it was almost literally day-to-day wondering if it was going to work out.

"We both kept our current jobs at the time," Ender said. "But we both went down to part time. And, well, you know, some days were really, because we were down there, it's not a busy part of town, the 300 block, and there were some days that were real slow, that we'd sell maybe $50 worth of stuff, and so it was scary at times."

Prior to opening the gift shop, Ender worked in a more corporate setting, wearing business suits and traveling all the time.

"I was getting too corporate and I didn't like it," Ender said. "It wasn't me. I didn't feel like I fit. So, my parents had moved to Colorado, Brian's parents lived in Iowa, so we decided it was time for a change, because even though I was doing well there, it wasn't me."

Gradually, day after day, week after week, month after month, business picked up and the Owl moved to its second location after only a year.

"That was such a good move for us, because we had a lot more traffic," Ender said. "We were across the street from Krasne's — Kranse's is a place that once you work there you're kind of like part of the Krasne family forever, and Brian worked there for nine years — and when we opened across the street they would send people over, people would see it, so that's when we, when we were in that (location) we started seeing the busier days, the more reliable. We could count on money coming in so we could buy things knowing we could pay for it."

With a successful 10 years in the rearview mirror, Ender said that he doesn't have any goals for the next decade. He subscribes to a very "Que Sera, Sera" worldview — "Whatever Will Be, Will Be."

"I've always been reluctant for that whole goal thing," he said. "My goal was never to open a bookstore, but this building opened up. It's like, we can have a bookstore and that's amazing to me. I have a bookstore and I love books."

Ender also appreciates the lessons he learned from a favorite book, "The Tao of Pooh," by Benjamin Hoff.

"It's so, you know, you're stressing about things that you have no control over, so you just need to calm down and enjoy the day, because it's a day that you're given," he said. "It's a day you have and if you want to be moping all the time, you can mope all the time, but unless you're happy moping ... "

The Wise Olde Owl is hosting a 10th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Sept. 28, with treats and giveaways from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Boomer Radio's Dave Wingert will be at the shop from 10 a.m. to noon, and there will be live music from Mike and Amy Spies from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"This whole thing seems to have been happening to us, not us doing it," Ender said. "It just seems like everything seemed to line up."