Birds in a van

Bob and Barbara Malowney, the owners of Bird in Hand, have long demonstrated a devotion to Chico. They’ve been so devoted, in fact, they spent a good part of the early ’70s living out of a van in Bidwell Park, happy so long as they were parked in Chico.

This was, of course, before the couple became entrenched in the blossoming downtown scene through their printmaking business, which they started in 1972 to run promotions for Zucchini & Vine, Sundance Records, Nantucket and other up-and-coming businesses. They operated out of a 400-square-foot office on the 800 block of Salem Street.

Bob Malowney recalled the infectious excitement of Chico’s downtown renaissance during a recent interview.

“The whole community coalesced around downtown,” he said. “It was like every other town in California that was losing business to the strip malls, but people in Chico had the spirit to save what was commonplace, and now it’s unique.”

The Malowneys’ business soon began branching out—they started selling T-shirts, posters and kites in front of their print shop.

“We just kept adding on,” Malowney said. “After kites we thought, ‘Whatever happened to all those childhood things like jacks, marbles, hopscotch and yo-yos?’”

And so the inventory grew, slowly transforming the store into what Chicoans know as Bird in Hand today—an every-occasion gift shop that carries toys, puzzles, yard games, stuffed animals, Hawaiian shirts and all manner of interesting trinkets.

Though the locations changed (the store moved three times, most recently in 1994, when it moved from where the Rawbar is to its current location) the Malowneys maintained both businesses until it became clear the store was taking off.

“It was like having each foot in different boats moving at different speeds,” he said. “We just had to concentrate on one, so we decided on the store. We sold the print equipment and concentrated on the store as our only business in January 1996.”

Bird in Hand has become a mainstay in Chico, attracting local and visiting shoppers looking for a taste of a downtown atmosphere that has become a rarity. To preserve that special feel, Malowney feels a revival of entrepreneurialism is in order.

“Now downtown seems to be rudderless,” he said. “I don’t know if the people with the original energy are gone or if the younger generation just doesn’t want to start businesses. I think there are a great number of people who just don’t care.”