After 37 years running downtown’s Nimble Thimble quilt store, longtime Gilroy shop owner Dave Peoples is handing over the keys to a new proprietor.
Linda Williams, a resident of Gilroy for the past eight years, has taken over the Nimble Thimble, which occupies a portion of Garlic City Mercantile at 7550 Monterey St.
Peoples isn’t entirely out of the picture, however. He will remain onsite and continue to run The Garlic City Shirt Works embroidery business, which is located in the back of the Nimble Thimble shop.
Peoples says it was “the right time” for change. He and Williams are working together to create a smooth transition for the quilt shop, he added.
“Linda was a customer and she I have been talking about it for a few years now,” he said. “She would come in and say, ‘I would love to run a shop like this one day.’ She did her homework, and now here we are.”
A seasoned quilter, Williams previously worked in quality assurance for a Sunnyvale company and is happy to be enjoying the ‘slower pace’ of the quilt shop.
“Everyone who comes in is so nice,” Williams said. “It is so great to work with so many friendly people.”
Peoples is confident about the change, but remarked that while many customers enjoy the “Mayberry” aspect of downtown Gilroy, they tend to do their major shopping “up in San Jose in the bigger chain stores.”
“That would be a great story,” Peoples added. “Why do people tend to visit and enjoy the smaller, independent stores, but spend most of their money elsewhere? How will our smaller stores survive that way?”
Peoples was named “Man of the Year” by the Chamber of Commerce in 1993 and has given his time and talents to Gilroy in many roles over the years, including serving on the Garlic Festival board.
