Mike Osegueda: Grinches can't steal Christmas from Fresno

Last Friday night, as people were no doubt rushing around town trying to finish their Christmas shopping, a man walked into Twee Boutique in the Tower District and pointed a gun in the owner's face.

He commanded owner Melanie Davis -- a cute young lady whom you'll almost always find at Twee with a smile on her face -- empty her cash register and hand it over.

Twee is a small boutique that sells handmade goods from small, independent dealers and crafty local folks. It's the type of place that has make-your-own Christmas ornament parties and gatherings where ladies frolic around with fake mustaches.

Needless to say, the culprit wasn't walking away with a vault's worth of money. He got about $350 from the cash register and another $200 from the one customer in the store at the time, Davis says.

This happened the same day that someone stole boxes of toys intended for a Toys for Tots event in Sanger and a couple of days after a teenager got stabbed on Christmas Tree Lane.

The Grinches of Fresno, it appears, were out in full force. And the Christmas spirit, in each case, was a victim, too.

But a wonderful thing happened at Twee. Saturday was the store's biggest day of sales since it opened two years ago.

"It's been absolutely amazing," Davis says. "I can't believe the support we've gotten. The mayor came shopping on Saturday. The city manager came out.

"People are just coming in and telling us their friends posted something on Facebook about [the robbery] and they had never heard of the store, but they wanted to come in and just spend money."

Even without the just-got-robbed sympathy, Twee is a great option for anyone looking to "Buy Local" this Christmas. It sells T-shirts, necklaces, photographs, cards and clever knickknacks of all sorts. All totally cute.

There's also a whole line of Fresno-related things, from T-shirts to buttons with quips like "I'm kind of a big deal in Fresno."

"When people just want to find something different and unique from somebody," Davis says. "They don't have to worry about duplicate gifts."

For any last-minute shoppers, Twee is open 9 a.m.-8 p.m. today and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. It's closed on Christmas Day, but resumes regular business hours (generally 11 a.m.-6 p.m.) on Monday. It's at 1302 N. Wishon Ave.

While business at Twee has rebounded, its owner is still a little shaky.

"It literally was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me," Davis says, her voice cracking a little. "I have friends come and sit with me from the time it gets dark until we close. I'm hoping the jumpiness will go away soon, but in the meantime ..."

She stops there and all I hear is the Christmas music playing in the store.

So just remember: There are far more elves out there than Grinches.