Sacramento will be losing more than the most eclectic greeting card shop in town when Etc. closes next week.

The city is also losing a one-of-a-kind neighborhood gathering spot. Owners Jeff Heald and Abdon Legrand — with help from a glittery, life-size chrome man standing sentry outside the shop — have welcomed shoppers and passersby to the corner of 21st and L streets for two decades.

The pair are closing their shop — previously known as Postcards Etc. — and moving to Mexico. They plan to open a new business: Café Como No (Cafe Why Not) in Punta de Mita, near Puerto Vallarta, said Heald, 57.

Heald grew up in the Sacramento area. However, 47-year-old Legrand grew up on the Gulf of Mexico in Tampico, Mexico. The couple, who have been together 28 years, want to return to Legrand's home country after vacationing there for 15 years.

The store has officially closed, but the pair are allowing customers in as they pack up. The store's last day is Monday. In the midst of a going-out-of-business sale, the pair said saying goodbye to friends in Sacramento is taking an emotional toll.

"We are overwhelmed at this point," Heald said, adding that it's become hard to talk about the impending move. "It's very bittersweet, because this has been a great, great run."

"We are going to miss people very much," Legrand said.

The store sold scented candles, gift items and local art in a part of Midtown known as Lavender Heights for its concentration of gay-owned businesses.

The store also sold cards. Lots and lots of cards.

There were handmade cards, Sacramento landmark cards, cowboy cards, Spanish language cards, Bat Mitzvah cards and gay-themed cards. The cards were unique, which made regular customers out of people like Midtown resident George Raya. He was at the store Sunday to buy cards and talk to Heald and Legrand.

"I'm into cards," Raya said. "I'm 60. I'm in that generation that believes in cards. Not just computer (e-mailed) cards. To me, that doesn't do it."

Heald and Legrand also have supported the gay community and local nonprofit causes for years. They've supported the Capitol Crossroads Gay Rodeo Association's rodeos and other events and fundraisers, Raya said.

"They've been around forever," said Raya, who's lived in Sacramento 46 years. "They were pillars. You went there for community news."

The silver mannequin sparkled on Sacramento summer days. During Sacramento's lesbian and gay-pride event, the Rainbow Festival, the chrome man held a rainbow-colored flag. He wore a Christmas stocking cap throughout the winter holidays. On other days, he'd just been lei'd.

He was actually the store's second mannequin. "Bob 2," or "Silver Bob," as he was also known, will now make his home at the Sacramento Art Complex, 2110 K St., in a suite belonging to artist Alister Oliver.

"More people ask about Bob than us," Legrand laughed Monday near closing time. "If you want to see Bob, that's where you have to go."

Heald and Legrand often set up a table, chairs and a shade umbrella outside the store, located at a well-traveled crossroads.

"They were super friendly. If you walked by, it was just natural to sit and talk with them for a while," Raya said. "There were two of them. So one could gossip and the other could work. And there was always someone there chatting them, because it was a friendly neighborhood spot."

The owner of another Lavender Heights business is reportedly talking with them about taking over greeting card sales in his own space. But the chrome man has already left that once-distinct corner as Heald and Legrand prepare to head south of the border.

"Sacramento doesn't have another place like Etc.," Raya said.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff writer for the Sacramento Press.