Cynthia Coldwell and Sara Jane Leggett had shopped at Kelley's Gift Shop for years.

"Everyone we knew shopped there," Coldwell said.

So in the fall of 2002 when they heard the store at 5601 Patterson Ave. was up for sale, the business partners jumped at the chance to buy it.

"We were interested in the store because Kelley's is a well-respected name," Coldwell said. "It wasn't just the business that attracted us. It was the nature of the business and the reputation that it had."

Besides, Coldwell and Leggett thought buying Kelley's would be a good extension for their business -- Brush Strokes of Virginia, a decorative-arts business they co-founded in 1998.

They bought Kelley's in January 2003 and continued to offer Brush Stroke services through the shop, including hand-painted furniture and decorative services such as faux finishes.

Coldwell and Leggett knew from the start that they had to expand the store's reach and attract new customers.

"By the end of 2007, we had increased revenue by 55 percent since we bought the business," Leggett said. "We are definitely growing."

The partners continued offering the items that customers had come to expect while mixing in new merchandise.

The store's roots trace to the late 1950s, when D. Page Kelley Jr. asked his father, who owned a hardware and appliance store on Forest Hill Avenue, if he could sell gift items in a small corner of the store.

"We still have customers walk in and say they remember that little shop on Forest Hill Avenue," Coldwell said.

About 1960, Kelley and his wife, Pat, opened Kelley's Village Gift Shop in The Village Shopping Center at Patterson Avenue and Three Chopt Road, broadening the scope of merchandise. The store carried a variety of traditional gift and home items, including Virginia Metalcrafters brass items, lighting and silk flowers.

The Kelleys sold the business in 1994. The shop was moved to its current location in 2001.

Shirley Owens of Richmond has shopped at Kelley's for at least 40 years. She continues to walk to the store most every Saturday.

"Cynthia and Sara Jane are the nicest people," Owens said. "They go out of their way to help you. Their customer service is excellent."

Owens collects Byers Choice Carolers and Christmas ornaments.

"I go to Kelley's each week to check out the merchandise and see if they have anything new," she said. "I've always liked the shop, because they carry a variety of items."

Getting the store's customers to return on a regular basis is an objective that Coldwell and Leggett have.

One way they do that is to carry popular items such as silk flowers. When they go to the merchandise market in Atlanta, Coldwell and Leggett handpick each flower.

"We buy the prettiest flowers from each manufacturer," Coldwell said. "It's a long and involved process to end up with each handpicked flower. But that's what people expect from Kelley's. They know that Kelley's carries the finest flowers."

The shop also has added other merchandise, including Beatriz Ball and Mariposa polished aluminum serveware and The Thymes personal-care products. "We increased our emphasis on jewelry by adding Chamilia, a line of modern charm bracelets that you can customize, and She Beads, a hand-rolled clay jewelry line," Coldwell said.

The store also sells a large number of walking/talking animated soft, plush toys from Gund.

"Our Gund representative told us that last year we were fifth in the country in sales of 'Storytime Bear,' which recites ''Twas The Night Before Christmas,'" Coldwell said. "We sold the first 50 without having them here in the store. Sara Jane described them to customers, and people signed on for them."

Mary Blair Valentine has purchased several animated animals from Kelley's. She's also a fan of the flamingos the store sells.

"I love flamingos, and they have a nice selection," Valentine said.

Valentine calls her shopping experiences at Kelley's fun.

"I'm crazy about Cynthia and Sara Jane," she said. "They carry high-quality gifts that you don't find other places. I've even bought a Christmas tree from them."

The holidays are a special time at Kelley's.

"We are a Christmas destination," Coldwell said. "We have customers come from far away for Christmas items."

Christmas isn't the only special occasion that draws Krista Stenger into the store.

"I buy all my gifts at Kelley's," she said. "I always go there first to look because of the selection. I can find unique, unusual gifts."