
Holiday closings
By Idyllwild Town Crier

The sign went up last week; Alpaca’s is once again the Mile High Café. Monday, Feb. 5 was the first day open under the new (old) name. After a well-earned, two-year break, Mile High founder Nam Park is “happy to come back.” Nam managed the restaurant for 14 years before “retiring” and leaving her son…
This week, the Crier met Marla Sparks, proprietor of Art Department, which shares with Mountain Pottery the newly remodeled building at the corner of Pine Crest Avenue and Maranatha Drive, one of local developer Shane Stewart’s projects. Together, the two businesses make up a “creative corner” where locals and visitors alike will find the unexpected,…
After 52 years of operation, Knotty Pine Cabins on Pine Crest Avenue closed its doors on July 16. It ends a long run of serving mountain visitors that began in 1964 when Doug and Bonnie Reed, Doug’s mother Elizabeth Wood, daughter Callie and son Ed became a family of innkeepers. Over the years, management changed…
Ariel Hackney celebrated the grand opening of Merkaba’s Green Thingnursery Thursday, May 2. The name is a nod to Hackney’s first localbusiness, Merkaba, which she bought in December 2022. “It was among thereasons I moved up here. I’ve always loved Idyllwild, and always wanteda reason to be here. I loved Merkaba before I bought it….
The Johnsons, Jay, Jason and Steve are again operating Village Market, having taken it back as a result of the default of previous business operators and are actively seeking an experienced and knowledgeable buyer for the business. They will retain the real property once a new business buyer is secured. And finally, the wildly successful…