{"id":251168,"date":"2017-01-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-fond-farewell-in-south-park\/"},"modified":"2017-01-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T08:00:00","slug":"a-fond-farewell-in-south-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-fond-farewell-in-south-park\/","title":{"rendered":"A fond farewell in South Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Retirement beckons longtime owner of Studio Maureen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Dave Schwab<\/p>\n

After nearly 30 years as a mom-and-pop boutique and art gallery operator in South Park, Studio Maureen owner Maureen Ceccarelli is retiring and goin\u2019 fishin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Except Ceccarelli\u2019s retirement goal is a little more ambitious.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband, who retired a year and a half ago, and I want to go to all the national parks,\u201d she said, adding they have been to about 15 of the 58 in the United States so far.<\/p>\n

The next park on their list is somewhat surprising: Death Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to finish those in California, which has nine,\u201d Ceccarelli said, noting they haven\u2019t been to perhaps California\u2019s highest-profile park yet \u2014 Yosemite.<\/p>\n

More than four years ago, San Diego Uptown News reported on Ceccarelli\u2019s combined silver (25-year) anniversary and Dia de los Muertos party in November 2012. The small-business owner was joined then by family, patrons and friends to celebrate the success of her Studio Maureen & The Next Door Gallery, located at 2963 Beech St.<\/p>\n

\"A
Maureen Ceccarelli is closing Studio Maureen & The Next Door Gallery in South Park. (Photo by Dave Schwab)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The artisan and shopkeeper said there was a good reason why she didn\u2019t want to extend her term as a small-business owner any longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease four years ago,\u201d she said. \u201cLuckily, I\u2019m very fit, and the Parkinson\u2019s hasn\u2019t really affected me. So I thought, \u2018Let\u2019s get going (traveling and hiking).\u2019 We started earlier this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
Studio Maureen & The Next Door Gallery will close soon. (Photo by Dave Schwab)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of her condition, Ceccarelli said, \u201cEveryone has something they\u2019re dealing with. I don\u2019t feel like mine is especially horrible. I can deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ceccarelli is holding a retirement sale through the month of January with everything in her shop 50 percent off. After that she\u2019s closing.<\/p>\n

Studio Maureen, during its long tenure, featured contemporary crafts, jewelry, apparel and art, among other hard-to-find items. Ceccarelli\u2019s adjoining art studio, The Next Door Gallery, showcased works by San Diego and Tijuana artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor so long, I really didn\u2019t make any money,\u201d Ceccarelli said previously. \u201cI was selling my jewelry and that was my main source of income. I didn\u2019t picture this happening, where it would grow into something bigger, becoming a community hub.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a community hub \u2014 and catalyst \u2014 is exactly what Studio Maureen became.<\/p>\n

As to following in her footsteps, Ceccarelli advised, \u201cIt\u2019s not a get-rich-quick scheme,\u201d while pointing out, \u201cit\u2019s a fantastic labor of love, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had so many people come in and tell me what a difference I made in theirs\u2019, and their kids\u2019 lives,\u201d she continued. \u201cThose kinds of things make me feel really like I wasn\u2019t just running a store, that I was part of the community and made a real difference. That just warms my heart, makes me feel that this was good.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Ceccarelli has seen a lot of change during 30 years in business in South Park. She said it\u2019s mostly all been good.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of sketchy in the neighborhood,\u201d she said about when she started out. \u201cI would keep my door locked. People would have to ring the bell to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
Bargains galore at Studio Maureen & The Next Door Gallery (Photo by Dave Schwab)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ceccarelli said the neighborhood early on wasn\u2019t pedestrian friendly. But as cornerstone businesses like Grant\u2019s Marketplace, Ginseng Yoga, Santos and Buona Forchetta have rolled out over the years, the neighborhood has become more and more inviting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe change has been wonderful,\u201d Ceccarelli said. \u201cThe South Park Business Group helped make South Park the charming neighborhood it now is, with the holiday tree lights. It\u2019s a welcoming place, a place where the community can gather and shop, be entertained and eat. It\u2019s been changing into this hub of activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past decade, Ceccarelli has spearheaded the Old House Fair, the community\u2019s signature event in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve helped to organize it, but I\u2019m going to just continue to consult for that with the new person,\u201d she said of the next event chair.<\/p>\n

Though she no longer will have a brick-and-mortar store in the community, Ceccarelli intends to keep on going.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still going to have an art studio in my home,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m still going to make art and possibly sell it, do shows and studio sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
Maureen Ceccarelli is retiring at the end of January and closing Studio Maureen & The Next Door Gallery, located at 2963 Beech St. in South Park. (Photo by Dave Schwab)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking back on her quarter-century-plus stint as a small-business owner, Ceccarelli concluded, \u201cIt\u2019s been a good run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in leasing Ceccarelli\u2019s soon-to-be-available 1,600-square-foot retail space can email gmkjr@msn.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Dave Schwab puede ser contactado en\u00a0<\/em>dschwabie@journalist.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retirement beckons longtime owner of Studio Maureen By Dave Schwab After nearly 30 years as a mom-and-pop boutique and art gallery operator in South Park, Studio Maureen owner Maureen Ceccarelli is retiring and goin\u2019 fishin\u2019. Except Ceccarelli\u2019s retirement goal is a little more ambitious.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":251169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A fond farewell in South Park","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}