Downtown's Poppy Mall Is Open for Business

The Poppy Mall, a two-story building with six retail shops and two office spaces, celebrated its first few weeks in business on Thursday with a ribbon cutting organized by the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce.

The proprietors of Gilroy’s newest retailers expressed great excitement about the business opportunities that could arise from the mall’s opening and membership in the chamber. 

“I don’t think that I would have success if people did not know about Poppy Mall,” said Victor De Reza, owner of Victoria’s Boutique, a store that specializes in women’s apparel.

De Reza recently graduated with a degree in business administration from , and said he is confident that the chances for his business success will be greater if the mall itself is well known.

“I want to let people know about Poppy,” he said.

“The ribbon cutting for my business means advertisement,” said Leticia Rivera, co-owner of Ten Dollars and Up.

The downtown location of the mall is considered a benefit by several of the retailers. One business owner moved the location of his store to the Poppy Mall as a result.

“I wanted to get close to the downtown area,” said Pat DeLeon of Flash Back Shack, a store that sells memorabilia such as comic books and train collectibles.

The building where the mall now sits is at 7660 Monterey Street. It sat vacant for approximately three years until the landlord of the building decided to subdivide the inside several months ago, retailers said.

“Since my other business is right next door, the owner of this building offered me the whole space, but the rent was too expensive,” said Lulu Torres, owner of Lulu's Fashion's store at the Poppy Mall.

Torres said she owns a beauty salon across from the mall. She made it clear to the owner that she would be willing to rent a cheaper and smaller space within in the building if offered.

Torres got her wish when the landlord decided to carve out areas within the building to turn it into the small shopping mall that it is today.

“When he opened it, I rented a place,” she said.