Gifts, Decor and More, a retail outlet located at 205 Cherry St., offers a variety of sports, novelty and other gift items for purchase in downtown Jamestown. Submitted photo

Despite being located only a block away from Main Street, Tim Palmgren’s business endeavor Gifts, Decor and More is considered by many to be one of Jamestown’s best-kept secrets.

Situated inside the Pearl City Arts Building, at 205 Cherry St., Palmgren has had his business up and running since March. And despite minimal foot traffic and an inconsistent consumer base, he has increased his inventory in anticipation of things to come.

Palmgren, a Jamestown native, opened the business a couple of years ago on Main and First streets upon his return to Jamestown following a 17-year stint in Las Vegas. When the Hallmark store closed in the Chautauqua Mall, he was able to secure their fixtures and opened next door to his current location in August of 2015 before opening at his current location, and expanding the operation.

“I carry a little bit of everything,” he said. “When I started out I was mainly doing sports-related stuff, because there wasn’t anywhere downtown selling licensed sports stuff. So I started with that and when I moved to this location, I realized there really wasn’t any place downtown selling gifts either; and with probably 250 apartments within a block of here, I decided to bring in every day gifts, and that’s done well.”

Although maintaining his focus on the sports-related merchandise, Palmgren also carries a variety of other items including: Paparazzi $5 Jewelry and Accessories; adult coloring books; essential oils, incense, perfume oils, wood signs and a full selection of T-shirts in hunting, fishing, military, cars and humorous themes — which come in sizes small through 5X. The store’s American-made product lines include RADA Cutlery and Our Own Candle Company in Findley Lake. Other products to have sold well at the location are bath bombs and mix-and-match handmade soaps.

Palmgren said that, aside from instances when the Downtown Jamestown Farmers Market would set up on Thursdays during the summer, business has been surprisingly slow; an unfortunate reality he attributes to the fact that the southern end of Cherry Street doesn’t receive as much foot traffic as other downtown areas, as well as most people being unaware that there is now a retail business open in a heavily residential section of the city.

He said he expects his customer base should see an increase in the not-so-distant future due to a number of renovations by the owner of the Pearl City Arts Center and the impending opening of other local businesses in and adjacent to the building.

“There are a lot of exciting things happening here in this building, which is great because I’d love to see downtown Jamestown make a comeback,” he said. “I remember coming downtown to Christmas shopping with my grandmother when I was a kid, but you can’t really do that anymore because the retail options just aren’t there like they used to be. So it would be nice if we could get people to not only be aware that we’re here but have the opportunity to buy there gifts locally.”

Palmgren noted that he has the ability to take special orders, particularly in regard to the sports items, and that he is also renting out space to vendors that don’t have the funds for a storefront of their own. Additionally, he is also capable of selling on consignment on behalf of private vendors.

For more information on Gifts, Decor and More, call 720-5896, find “Gifts, Decor & More” on Facebook or visit the 205 Cherry St. storefront. Palmgren also operates a Facebook page titled “Shop Local Jamestown NY” that he created to raise awareness of Jamestown businesses. Businesses are encouraged to post their sales, specials and events to the page in order to reach a wider audience.