Packards wins store decorating contest
Decorating for an “America the Beautiful” rodeo parade theme was an easy task for the owners of Packards Coffee Shop at 680 Main St.
Packards garnered the most votes by the public to be declared the winner in the Ramona Sentinel and Ramona Rodeo store decorating contest.
“We are a veteran-owned business,” said co-owner Nora Seidl. “We are patriotic already. So it was kind of easy to do with the decorations.”
The Seidls adorned their outdoor seating area with red, white and blue string pennant flags and other patriotic-themed decorations. Nora even found a metal sign that said “America the Beautiful,” which she displayed inside. Outside, they also hung the U.S. flag and the U.S. Navy flag that one of the Seidls’ daughters gave her father. Nora said many people do not realize that her husband, Gene, is a retired Navy veteran.
Owners of Packards for the past seven years, the Seidls, who also own Seidl’s Party Supplies and Rentals, are involved in many community events and are a supporter of rodeo.
“We’ve been a huge sponsor of the rodeo for a long time,” said Nora.
The Seidls were planning to attend the rodeo on Friday night. When they found out they won the contest and the prize of a VIP table for 10, they invited some of their regular customers to join them.
“It was a new experience for a couple of them,” said Nora.
The next morning for the parade, the Seidls borrowed 30 chairs from their party rental business to add to their seating outside the coffee shop. Every seat was filled and the coffee shop stayed busy. Looking at her sales from that day, Nora said 62 percent of them were from new customers.
As a mom-and-pop business, Packards continues to add more choices and amenities for customers. In addition to coffee, including organic blends, the shop sells specialty coffee drinks, teas, Italian sodas, smoothies, baked goods, and on weekends offers a variety of sweet and savory crepes. On Thursday nights for the American Graffiti Cruise, Nora said she cooks a specialty meal with a comfort food focus, using her own recipes and striving to prepare entrees that are not found at other downtown restaurants, out of respect for fellow business owners. The coffee shop also offers Wi-Fi.
Future plans for the coffee shop include adding a lunch menu, she said.
Packards’ patrons and passers-by will notice a tall blue box out in front that says “Police Box.” Nora explained that she wanted to do something trendy and one of her daughters told her about Dr. Who, a popular British science fiction program. The box that the Seidls created is patterned after Dr. Who’s TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space), a fictional time machine and spacecraft, and Nora said she has seen people stop and get out of their cars for a photo op.
About every six months, Nora said she hosts a Dr. Who trivia night with British-themed food that attracts up to 100 people.