Casa Mesita has a fresh and spacious new look at its new location at 1370 Central Avenue, Suite B. Courtesy photo

 A new shoe rack at Casa Mesita. Courtesy photo

Casa Mesita has a new look. Courtesy photo

There’s plenty of room at the new Casa Mesita location for shoppers to move around and check out the huge variety of merchandise. Courtesy photo

BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

You can hear the excitement in Roberta Irwin’s voice. Casa Mesita is reopening Wednesday, Sept. 2 and Irwin wants the community to know how amazing the new location at 1370 Central Avenue, Suite B is and what people can expect.

The new location is some 2,800 square feet whereas the old location was only 1,500 square feet.  Irwin said additional fixtures were purchased from the Beall’s store and some were also gifted to Casa Mesita by Atomic Quilts and the Jemez House. This allows for the merchandise to be displayed in a more attractive manner and makes it easier to find items of interest.

“We’re expanding our hours on a trial basis. We will be open on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fridays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” Irwin said. “We have never opened on Fridays in the 17 years I have been volunteering so this is very exciting.”

Casa Mesita’s new landlord is Shannon Corporation and Irwin noted that owner Shannon C’de Baca and her staff have been amazing to work with. She said the lease renewal for the former location had been due since August 2019 and after 15 years there, the decision was made to move.  She said Shannon Corporation has taken care of every little issue in a gracious and kind manner ever since the decision to move was made June 28.

“Our new home doesn’t even look like the old Casa Mesita. We have almost double the space so the housewares section alone is twice as big as it used to be. We have room for smaller pieces of furniture inside. We even have shoe racks – separate ones for men’s and women’s shoes,” Irwin said. “At the front of the store are racks of brand new, nicer outerwear items and more that have been donated.”

She said Casa Mesita volunteers have spent long hours for several weeks preparing the new space, sometimes working until after 10 p.m.

“We are very proud of what we have done and hope the community will be as proud as we are,” Irwin said.

Parking is available in front of the store, which is located next to Subway, but additional parking is available behind the building. Irwin is asking that customers show respect for the parking spots assigned to other tenants of the building.

Casa Mesita will be strictly adhering to COVID-19 regulations so only 25 percent of the store’s capacity will be allowed to be there at any given time. This means that nine customers and the three volunteers will be allowed and everyone will be required to wear a mask. Irwin is reminding shoppers that children are counted in the nine allowed shoppers and that after there are nine shoppers in the store, people will have to wait outside until someone leaves.

The premises will be sanitized thoroughly by the volunteers before and after each sales day and during sales days as much as possible. A table will be set up with sanitizers for customers to use.

The new landlord is delighted to have Casa Mesita as a tenant.

“The volunteers from Casa Mesita are an amazing group of dedicated folks. We are happy we had a larger space for them so that they can continue to serve Los Alamos. They do so much good,” Shannon C’de Baca told the Los Alamos Reporter Sunday.

Volunteers are in short supply and Irwin said she is always looking for new folks to help out. She said volunteering at Casa Mesita for all those years has been a huge part of her life as well as that of her husband, Tim, and her two children who are both attending New Mexico State University. Anyone interested in volunteering should stop by during open hours.

Casa Mesita is run by a four-person board and Irwin is the vice president. She said the other board members are very humble about their volunteer work and would rather not have their names listed.

Donations are being accepted and should be placed in the boxes at the rear of the building. Irwin is asking that people make an appointment prior to dropping off larger amounts or big items so that she can make sure someone is available to help.

The phone number for Casa Mesita is (505) 662-7235.