A downtown Los Gatos antiques store is due to close just a year after opening to be replaced by retail giant Barnes and Noble.
As of last week, armchairs with colorful upholstery, paintings on large canvases and glassware of assorted sizes sat atop side tables and in cabinets in various rooms in Vidi Vici Gallery at 122 N. Santa Cruz Ave. Owner Nino Demiani accumulated these items over the years from previous businesses. But when the longtime Los Gatos resident, 67, was asked about how the items were acquired, he deadpanned, “I’m stealing it at night from people. I have an ability to get through the chimney and take everything I like.”
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It’s no laughing matter that Vidi Vici is expected to close this month. The Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the family-run business’s operating space has been leased to Barnes and Noble. Demiani said he had until May 15 to close but may be able to stretch that until the end of the month.
Demiani had been leasing the space since February 2024. The family business had negotiated a discounted rate and temporary tenancy, requiring the landlord to provide 60-day notice if they needed to vacate the property.
Cooking and home goods retailer Williams Sonoma used to operate out of the storefront before it was left abandoned for several years. Demiani moved into a space that had dirt piled up to the ceiling, holes in the floors and the walls, greasy counters and dead rats and cockroaches. He said he spent at least two months trying to clean it up and even considered spending $5,000 to replace the window film, which was dirty and covered with glued-on stencil marks, so people could clearly see into the shop.
Before setting up shop at 122 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Demiani operated a pop-up shop just down the street at 2 N. Santa Cruz Ave., where he was able to stay for almost two years. But as soon as he moved to the former Williams Sonoma site, the family was taken aback by tours of potential tenants before they even opened. He said another business had previously wanted to take over the storefront but eventually decided against leasing it. Then Barnes and Noble showed interest, and Demiani got a two-month notice to vacate the store last month.
Operating on a month-to-month lease was stressful, Demiani said. “We’ve been on pins and needles this year,” he added. “I would say it was painful when you don’t know what’s going on. We were in suspense all this time.”
Demiani was previously in the business of furniture repair and museum-quality restoration and preservation. He operated three different stores, including an art gallery, then took a 25-year break. He opened Vidi Vici Gallery with a push from his daughter.
“I was basically in our house, and when I started talking to my clocks, my daughter said, ‘Daddy, you’re getting wild. You probably need to see people,’” Demiani said.
The business initially started with online auctions due to the declining market for brick and mortar antique stores. Soon, Demiani began taking consignment from local customers, selling unwanted items online.
Demiani said his rocky stay in downtown Los Gatos is indicative of the constant flux in the antiques business: If you’re not selling off items, you’re paying to store them, he said, and even if you do sell an item after years of storage, you’re likely not turning a profit for it.
“That’s fine pieces of furniture and art, and I wish to save it for future generations, but today, people are not really interested in anything, to tell you the truth,” Demiani said. “It doesn’t make any sense in storing it for me, because it’s costly.”
With an eye toward liquidation, Demiani has taken to selling off his items through online auctions, saying it’s a better way to sell because people in other states are more likely to buy more items. He said a man from Florida bought a number of items from his store.
“This (antiques) business is for crazy people like me, because normal people will not do it,” Demiani said. “Another crazy business is Barnes and Noble, because they will lose even more money than me because nobody will buy, but they don’t care.”
There hasn’t been a chain bookstore in downtown Los Gatos since Borders in the Old Town shopping center closed in 2011, and some residents expressed surprise that a family-owned business could soon be replaced by a corporate-owned bookstore.
Los Gatos resident Zakiya Norton, 44, came into Vidi Vici on May 1 as Demiani was trying to sell off his remaining merchandise. She said she always wanted to stop by but had been too busy. She said it was “upsetting” that Barnes and Noble would be taking over the store’s lease instead of a local bookstore.
“We’ve kept all the big chains out, which I think is a good thing,” Norton said. “And you’re helping, like, a family who’s probably in your community, too.”
A representative from Barnes and Noble confirmed that their new store will be just under 7,000 square feet and is scheduled to open this summer.
Demiani said it’s unlikely that he’ll reopen his antiques business at another storefront. However, they did find a warehouse to relocate their inventory.
Facing high rent and operating at a loss, Demiani wryly said, “Push everything from the cliff and jump from the bridge. Do we have any other options?”
As it turns out, he does. With his daughter’s support, Demiani launched a TikTok account that has gained some attention from younger users interested in the antiques business.