Bon Voyage! Dawn's Hallmark in Auburn closing shop after 35 years

Jerry and Susan Urban have owned and operated Dawn's Hallmark in the Auburn Ravine Shopping Center wholeheartedly for 35 years. Their shop's reputation was built with the help of family, and their family was built with the help of the shop. Susan's parents, Jim and Dawn Grassman, owned the Hallmark store in the early 1980s. The Urbans owned the neighboring office supply store before taking over the Hallmark store and merging the two in the 1990s. The Urbans were able to adopt daughter Katie from China when she was 18 months old with money raised in their annex building. Katie Urban is now 24 and has spent her Saturdays over the last couple of months helping her parents liquidate the shop that has created countless memories and interactions with members of the Auburn community. "Bittersweet," said Susan Urban, unenthusiastically counting down to Aug. 22, which will be the final day Dawn's Hallmark is open for business. "It wasn't just a job. We're gonna miss the relationships." Several factors played a part in the Urbans' decision to retire a year ahead of schedule, including lost revenue due to PG&E shut-offs, the uprising of online home delivery and the ongoing struggle against COVID-19. "I think we really started feeling a crunch in the last five years," Jerry Urban said. But Urban also remembers the booming days when customers would follow UPS trucks to the back of the store hoping to be the first to get their hands on a new shipment of Beanie Babies. Or when the store required at least two employees up front tasked solely with helping customers with Italian charm bracelets. "Those were gravy days," he said with a smile. Not only did Dawn's provide a space for local art teachers to give daily lessons on watercolor, acrylics, pencil drawing and oil painting, it also made charitable contributions to Acres of Hope, a homeless shelter for women and children across the freeway on Bowman Road. At its peak, Dawn's employed up to 14 staff members during the holiday season and attracted several regular customers over the years, not just for greeting cards or art and office supplies, but for the atmosphere created by those inside. "People would come in and say, 'I can't really afford a lot, but when I come in here, I feel such peace. Is it OK if I just wander?' " recalled Sandy Hale, Susan Urban's sister and former sales rep. Hale remembered encountering an elderly man with an odd request one day. He asked Hale if she could pick out an anniversary card for him that was intended to be from the man's wife. "I thought it was kind of unusual, but sure," Hale said. The man explained his wife was on bedrest with about a week left to live. Hale went from being puzzled to honored. "I said, 'OK God, you've got to help me find just the right thing for her.' " Susan Urban said she recently had old customers reflect on life lessons learned inside the store. One customer recalled a time when her daughter stole something from Dawn's that she later returned and apologized for. The Urbans wrote the girl a letter expressing appreciation for the significance of both actions. "She kept the letter," said Urban, noting several other intimate interactions with customers. "It's so personal. There are times when we got to pray with people because they were so distraught. "Taking time, valuing them, knowing them by name. That's huge. In this day and age, you're not gonna get that. I never thought that we'd have the reaction and response that we're getting." The Urbans said several ex-employees and family members have come out of retirement to voluntarily help in the shop's final days. "You know when you sell your house, you kind of get teary, and it gets kind of weird?" Susan Urban said. "We wouldn't have been here for 35 years if we didn't have their support." The Urbans plan to remain in Auburn in retirement, still visible and saying hello around town. But not before a trio of camping trips on the books for rest and relaxation. "I'd like to give glory to God for 35 years," said a choked up Jerry Urban. "Great community."