Catalina by the Sea

Cute little shop by the tourist destination on Catalina island. There are lots of other shops around there too that might have cheaper things. Make sure to ask for military discount. The reason why I’m giving it 3 stars is because the lady was being really mean about returning my necklace for military discount, when my sister paid for it. She’s a jerk and will most likely go to another store next time.

The cashier was so rude! As it was my turn to pay, she told me the minimum was 10 dollars. Since I had a 4 dollar item, I looked down to see the jewelry she had in the glass case to add it to my purchase. She rudely tapped the back of my head, as I was looking at jewelry, and pointed at the sign. Not only that, she didn’t even acknowledge me in a polite manner. REALLY BAD customer service!!! Who taps a customer’s head?!

H O R R I B L E ! Stay AWAY from this store unless you want to be treated like a criminal and be forced to buy objects you touch or try. This grumpy old lady will sneak behind you and when you test an item, she will pop out and insist you must buy the item now. No joke! BAD business practice, and shame on the business for treating customers in such way! I hate leaving businesses awful reviews but I must warn you of their horrible business ethics. You have been warned.

In my birthday I decided spend the day in Catalina traveling with my small dog (7 lbs.) in his pet carrier over my shoulders. My dog does not bark and more of the time he is unnoticed by others. Because he is so cute and I always take him in his carrier (which looked as a purse) people are very nice with me, being in shops, restaurants etc and always is a fun and positive experience.
I checked the windows of this shop and something catch my attention so I decided treat myself for my birthday and buy it. I went inside when by surprise a very angry old lady in a very rude manner said” DOG ARE NOT ALLOWED’. Was no what she said by the way she delivery it sounds so rude and mean. I left the store and went shopping other stores in the island and have a great time, people were very nice with me and my dog. They were very happy to take my business!

Just back from Catalina for the Memorial weekend and had a GREAT time EXCEPT WHEN I VISITED THIS SHOP when we arrived on Friday ⁵⁄₂₄. 7 of us, adults from age 23 – 55, entered this deserted shop to look around and found a Buffalo hat with horns right inside the door.
My friend, whose daughter goes to Univ Colorado, Boulder and their mascot is a buffalo, put the hat on and I took a photo of her to send to her daughter to see if she liked the hat. We were all laughing at how funny she looked. My friend said her daughter already had a buf hat simiiar to this one so we continued looking through the store.
Towards the back of the store we found another knit buffalo hat with long ties that was very unique so my friend again put the hat on and as I was preparing to take a photo to send to her daughter A VERY MEAN OLD LADY GRABBED MY FRIEND BY THE ARM AND YELLED «NO PHOTOS IN THE STORE!!!» We were shocked and dumbfounded. My friend immediately took the hat off and replaced it and we ALL started out of the store. WTF??? Catalina is a vacation location where people go to have a good time, which we were doing and no harm was being done.
When we got out of the store I said «what is her problem, we are adults not 13 year old teens and we have the $$$$$$ to spend in her store all weekend, why is she being such a BIATCH??? We weren’t hurting anything or anyone and my friend WAS GOING TO BUY THE HAT FOR HER DAUGHTER until this happened.
My friend said «YOU KNOW YOU ARE RIGHT» and turned and went back into the store to tell the OWNER how rude she was, how she was going to buy that $ 30 buffalo hat and how she WILL NOT SPEND 1 DIME IN HER STORE NOW OR EVER and that she would give her a TERRIBLE REVIEW ON Unilocal.
Here you go OWNER OF «CATALINA BY THE SEA» GIFT SHOP. YOU DEFINITELY NEED AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT IF YOU HOPE TO MAKE A LIVING THIS SUMMER!!!
WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T GO TO THIS GIFT SHOP ON YOUR VISIT TO CATALINA. There are plenty of other shops you can spend your hard earned money at that are nice and friendly and GLAD YOU CAME INTO THEIR STORE TO SHOP.

So, I’m really cheapo when it comes to souvenirs but one of my favorite things to get is a souvenir penny.
We asked around at another store and they said Catalina by the Sea is the only place to get them at! Right now, their machine is broken but they’re ordering a new one.
I’m giving them 5 stars b/​c the manager/​owner let us have one of the ones they had ready made. And we only paid 50 cents! It’s only one cent cheaper but it’s nice to have for the memories (:

This is a cute little gift shop on the main drag. If you are looking for a gift for the poor suckers that you left at home while you are on your vacation, then you should find something here to help heal the pain.
As you can see from my pictures, there is a lil something for everyone and some things you weren’t expecting. I couldn’t figure out the Aunt Jemima/​mammie salt and pepper shakers on Catalina? Hmmm, something in the Island history I need to learn?