Fancy That

Some storefronts in Mendocino look like they were built to keep changing clothes, and this one has done exactly that.

Fancy That occupies part of the commercial property at 10483 Lansing Street in the village of Mendocino.

The women's boutique is known for clothing, scarves, handbags, and accessories. Current tourism and Chamber of Commerce listings continue to place the business at this address.

The property, however, contains more than one commercial space and carries more than one remembered history. Businesses associated with 10483 Lansing Street have included Fancy That, Mendocino Gems, cafés, hair-related businesses, and a neighborhood barbershop remembered from the 1970s and 1980s.

That combination makes this a good example of a Mendocino village property whose history cannot be told through a single business name.

Location

Fancy That is located at 10483 Lansing Street in Mendocino.

Lansing Street is one of the village's principal commercial streets, lined with small shops, restaurants, galleries, and older buildings adapted for changing uses.

Unlike a modern shopping center built around one large tenant, this property contains individual commercial spaces that can carry separate histories even though they share the same street address.

That distinction is important. Fancy That, Mendocino Gems, cafés, hair businesses, and the earlier barbershop may all be connected with 10483 Lansing Street without having occupied the same exact room.

Building and Property

Public property information identifies the parcel as approximately six-tenths of an acre.

Commercial property records describe its land use as a store building and identify the parcel as APN 119-150-07-00. The larger property was reportedly sold in late 2006 for approximately $2.6 million.

The property appears to function as a small commercial complex rather than as one storefront occupied by one business.

Its separate entrances and retail spaces have allowed individual businesses to open, close, relocate, or change names while the larger Lansing Street property has remained active.

Current commercial records classify it as nonresidential retail or store-building use.

Fancy That

Fancy That is a women's boutique carrying clothing, scarves, handbags, accessories, and other specialty merchandise.

Tourism and Chamber listings continue to identify the boutique at 10483 Lansing Street. State-related business-directory information has also associated the address with the corporate name Fancy That Pret A Porter, Inc.

The boutique fits naturally into Mendocino's retail character. Rather than operating as a large department store, it belongs to the village tradition of smaller specialty shops where clothing, accessories, gifts, art, jewelry, and carefully selected merchandise are presented in intimate storefront settings.

The exact opening date of Fancy That has not yet been confirmed through a dependable historical source.

Mitch's Barbershop

Local memory adds an earlier and very different use to the property.

A corner space of the building is remembered as Mitch's Barbershop, probably operating during the 1970s and 1980s. The barber pole remains one of the strongest remembered details associated with the shop.

At this point, the barbershop's exact opening and closing dates have not been independently confirmed. The name of the proprietor and the approximate period should therefore be treated as valuable community recollection rather than as a fully documented timeline.

Even with that uncertainty, the memory of the barber pole provides an important visual connection to an earlier period when a corner of the property served as a neighborhood barbershop.

Mendocino Gems and Jewelry

The corner area remembered as the barbershop later became associated with Mendocino Gems and Jewelry.

Current business-directory information places Mendocino Gems at 10483 Lansing Street.

This does not mean the jewelry business replaced Fancy That. The available information instead suggests that Mendocino Gems occupied another commercial space within the same multi-business property, possibly the corner storefront remembered as the former barbershop.

That change---from barber chairs, mirrors, clippers, and a barber pole to jewelry cases, stones, and handcrafted pieces---is one of the more interesting transformations remembered at the address.

Cafés, Hair Businesses and Other Uses

Business listings have also associated the property with GoodLife Cafe & Bakery, the former Sunrise Cafe, Unforgettable Hair, and other commercial uses.

These listings reinforce the idea that 10483 Lansing Street is a shared commercial property containing several separately operated businesses.

They should not automatically be interpreted as businesses that directly replaced Fancy That or Mitch's Barbershop. Each may have occupied a different part of the property or operated during an overlapping period.

The address therefore represents a group of storefront histories rather than one simple line of succession.

The Property Today

The property remains part of Mendocino's active village shopping district.

Fancy That continues to appear in current tourism and Chamber listings at 10483 Lansing Street, while Mendocino Gems is also associated with the address.

The storefronts may have changed merchandise and operators, but the property continues to serve the same broad purpose it has carried for years: providing small commercial spaces where independent Mendocino businesses can operate near the center of the village.

Community Memories

Community recollections connect a corner of the property with Mitch's Barbershop, remembered as operating during the 1970s and 1980s.

The barber pole is remembered as one of the shop's most recognizable features.

Later recollection connects the same general corner area with Mendocino Gems and Jewelry. More information is still needed to confirm the barbershop's exact dates, its formal business name, and whether the jewelry business moved directly into the former barbershop space.

These memories help preserve a part of the property's history that does not yet appear clearly in published records.

Timeline

**1970s--1980s, approximately** --- A corner space of the property is remembered as Mitch's Barbershop.

**Later years** --- The same general area becomes associated with Mendocino Gems and Jewelry.

**Before 2006** --- The larger property develops as a multi-business commercial complex containing separately operated storefronts.

**Late 2006** --- The larger parcel is reportedly sold for approximately $2.6 million.

**Later years** --- Businesses associated with the address include Fancy That, Mendocino Gems, Sunrise Cafe, GoodLife Cafe & Bakery, Unforgettable Hair, and other commercial operators.

**Today** --- Fancy That continues to appear in tourism and Chamber listings at 10483 Lansing Street.

Why It Matters

The story of 10483 Lansing Street is not simply the history of Fancy That.

It is the history of a flexible Mendocino commercial property where small storefronts have repeatedly adapted to new businesses.

A corner barbershop became a remembered village landmark because of its barber pole. A jewelry business later gave the same part of the property a different identity. Clothing shops, cafés, hair businesses, and other operators added their own layers.

Properties like this help explain how Mendocino's village business district has survived. The buildings do not always remain tied to one trade. Instead, they provide spaces that can be reused, divided, rearranged, and given new identities while remaining part of the familiar streetscape.

Sources & Original Research

This article blends verifiable historical records with personal recollections shared by longtime Mendocino Coast residents. Some details, particularly the history of Mitch's Barbershop and the exact relationship between individual storefronts, come from community memory and have not yet been fully confirmed through published records. Sources include the original post text provided by Gee Bee; comment thread provided by Gee Bee with contributor memory from Craig Johnson; additional personal recollection provided by Gee Bee; Visit Mendocino County listing for Fancy That; Mendocino Coast Chamber of Commerce listing for Fancy That; LoopNet property information for 10483 Lansing Street; Compass property and sales information for 10483 Lansing Street; business-directory information for Fancy That Pret A Porter, Inc.; MapQuest listings for Mendocino Gems, Sunrise Cafe, and GoodLife Cafe & Bakery; and original research compiled for the Fort Bragg Buildings and Businesses archive.