Tiddle E. Winks: A Whiff of Nostalgia for the Young at Heart

Heidi Geffen is special: she's one of the rare few who truly enjoy going to work. 

“I love what I do. It really is amazing to wake up happy and want to go to work,” she says, “but I didn’t always feel this way.”

Geffen, the perky, red-haired proprietor of , which carries a carefully-curated menagerie of vintage inspired toys and housewares,  heads to the shop every morning with a smile on her face, accompanied by her little dog, “Miss Skittle-icious.”

But it took a number of years before she found the occupation that sparked that smile.

Armed with a creative bent and an adventurous spirit, Geffen left her Detroit, Michigan home in search of a fulfilling career and a way to combine work with fun. The winding road led her through an eclectic series of jobs: along the way, she started "See Spot Run," a rubber stamp shop in the Farmers Market in Los Angeles, which she operated for 15 years.

One night she had a vivid dream that she would work at Mrs. Grossman’s, the famous  sticker company in Petaluma. The dream became a reality when a position opened up and she packed her things and moved north.

Geffen’s began to visit Sonoma because of a friend in the area. When she experienced the town, she fell in love with its friendly ambience and natural beauty and settled here. “When I made the drive to Petaluma, nice as it was,” reflects Geffen, “I hated leaving Sonoma.”

The time was right to create Geffen's dream store—a place that would embrace and enhance the special small town spirit of Sonoma and offer both the community and visitors the nostalgia-tinged merchandise that they knew in their childhood. In 2005, Geffen opened up stop in a storefront on East Napa Street, just off the Plaza.

Entering the store is like taking a trip down memory lane - there is a seemingly endless array of retro-inspired merchandise: old-time candies, novelty ice creams and sodas and a dizzying selection of unique gifts, games, housewares and fanciful mementos.

“Almost every adult that comes in here finds something that takes them back to their childhood or teen years,” said Geffen. “And they invariably leave with a smile at the memories that made those years best of times.”

Geffen sought out specialty candies, sodas and ice cream confections, and has become a source for hard-to-find items. Recently, EveryDay With Rachel Ray, the Food Channel celebrity’s magazine, contacted Tiddle E. Winks to locate “Fizzies,” a drink made popular in the 60’s. Naturally Geffen carries Fizzies (she even hosts  Fizzie Fridays in summer) and supplied the publication with the product, which was included as part of Rachel Ray’s Easter Basket selections in the April issue of her magazine.

A serendipitous conversation with a writer from the magazine then led to a feature in the upcoming May issue on “Magic Milk Straws” as one of Rachel’s “Fave Eats,” and directed readers to Tiddle E. Winks to purchase them. EveryDay also ordered 500 packages of the treat for a party gift to celebrate the makeover of the magazine and The Huffington Post ran a piece on “Rachel Ray’s Favorite Things,” that linked to Tiddle E. Winks. “Magic Milk Straws were already one of our hottest-selling products,” remarked Geffen, “but when the articles appeared, the phone calls and emails started immediately.”

Geffen attributes her success to a myriad of little courtesies which add up - sharing a memory with a customer, welcoming local kids to gather after school, developing relationships with the Mom and Pop companies that produce the old-fashioned items and being willing to change merchandise to stay in tune with the public’s interests.

The key, according to Geffen is to be flexible. “You have to pay attention to your customers and if you provide the things they want, you’ll continue to do well.” That old-fashioned-sounding advice is still relevant today, much like the fun foods and retro products at Tiddle E. Winks.

So pop into the shop and you’ll find that you can’t leave without at least one of your favorite childhood candy bars, a vintage college pennant or in the case of one Santa Cruz schoolteacher, the perfect knitted chicken hat.