Get your hippie on at Tribal Weaver

A gift shop that was a fixture for 16 years in the Auburn area before it closed in December 2007 is back.Tribal Weaver, known for its eclectic mix of merchandise evoking the 1960s, is across the street from its former location, just off Interstate 80 in Bowman. The new site also includes Foothill Liquors next door.Both businesses are owned by Andrea Long and her longtime business and personal partner, Nevin Sledge."This is more open and has more light," Long said of the new store. "People can see better. There's more room to walk around and no problem for wheelchairs." It's no accident that the store has its share of peace signs and tie-dye. It's a reflection of Long's roots in the hippie culture."I lived in Haight-Ashbury in 1968 and 1969 when I was 20 and 21," she said. "I left there because it got crazy. So I moved to Tahoe."Long and Sledge got their start in merchandising more than 20 years ago, initially selling fabric and purses from Guatemala."It kind of reminded me of things we used to see in San Francisco," Long said. "We had some Indians who did the sewing and started manufacturing purses and backpacks. It just evolved from there."The couple started at Denio's market in Roseville and, with their business established, opened the first Auburn store in 1991.The reincarnated version has a few differences. The adult section, with its videos and paraphernalia, has expanded to include lingerie. The smoke section has a large selection of hookah pipes and hookah tobacco."One of our big sellers is hookah tobacco, along with the incense," Long said. "We sell incense all day long every day."Hookah tobacco, which is also sold in the liquor store, comes in many flavors — among them pumpkin pie, grape, pomegranate, cotton candy, chocolate, orange and cherry.Visitors will also find water pipes, along with hemp wallets and hemp bags, patches, stickers and Grateful Dead and Bob Marley T-shirts."These are things that have consistently sold for us," Long said.At the store Tuesday, Meadow Vista resident Duke Brown stopped in to browse and found a couple of must-haves."I thought the Bob Marley (tapestries) were really cool," Brown said. "I'm also buying a hammock to put in the yard."Future plans include expanding the women's clothing line, after Long and Sledge put in a fitting room. And, since the store has a selection of drums, shakers and rattles, Long would like to do drum circles on the patio on Saturdays."A lot of people who come in are young and energetic," she said. In the hot weather, she plans to have plenty of water available."Just go out and play your drum for a while and hang out," she said.In the liquor store, which Long and Sledge purchased with Jeff and Laura Vizenor of Jeffco Plumbing, they've expanded the inventory of microbrews."(The selection) is huge, compared to what it was before," Long said. "When people come in, if we don't have a beer they're looking for, and they live in the area, we're buying the beers they want. We're trying to cater locally to people who drive by every day."The Journal's Gloria Young can be reached at gloriay@goldcountrymedia.com or comment at Auburnjournal.com.