Businesses come and go, sometimes not lasting long enough to make an impression on anyone's memory.

Occasionally, though, one sticks and lasts, spanning generations.

The Windfall, a gift shop tucked away on 130 Third Avenue NW in Austin, is one of those.

The store will celebrate its 35th anniversary May 3 and 4 and has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the basement of a beauty parlor.

Ruth Bork, one of the original founders and now a co-owner, explains the Windfall was started by nine women as a consignment shop where they could sell their handmade arts and crafts and where other area artists and craftspeople also could sell their goods.

Marlys Dunlop, co-owner of the store, says their merchandise lines changed "when we moved downtown … we found out we couldn't produce enough stuff to keep the business going." As a result, they expanded and now mostly sell collectible items such as the Buyer's Choice carolers, Boyd's Bears, Fenton art glass and Andersen ceramics.

"Most of us still make things ourselves, but that's a very small part of the business," Dunlop says. "Now probably 75 percent of what we sell are things we buy at market."

One of the unique aspects of working at a business for so many years, Dunlop says, is seeing different generations explore the shop. "The children and grandchildren of the mothers that came here in the beginning are now coming through and they say things to us like 'I shopped here with my mother when I was little.' We hear that a lot," she says.

How does a gift shop manage to stay in business for 35 years?

"We've always had hand-crafted, one of a kind things that people liked. It's also probably because we've been around so long that everyone knows its here. I don't know," Dunlop chuckles. "We appeal to all ages between, I'd say 30 and 70. We don't have a lot of young kids, although they come in with their parents. They just don't see a lot of things they're interested in, though they do really like the plush type things."

"We have a really big variety of things … that other shops don't have," Bork says. "As we hear over and over again, 'it's fun to shop at the Windfall because it's not all commercial things.'"

"We don't have a lot of contemporary stuff, but we don't have customers who are really into contemporary things," Bork adds. "We do try to keep our merchandise fresh, though. We follow trends and try to get new products into the store."

Part of the shops success also can be attributed to a strong local economy, Bork says. "Austin has been a really good place for a business like ours. The economy has been very stable here for the past few years. We've been lucky," she says. "The downtown business association has also done a lot to promote business and all those things have helped us stay open. It's been a fun 35 years."

It continues to be so. "It just started out being a fun thing and through the years it's been more of a hobby … than a job," Dunlop says. "We've all enjoyed what we're doing so much."

The Windfall will have an open house May 3 and 4 and everything in the store will be on sale, except co-signer items like silk floral arrangements and some woodworking pieces. For more information about the open house or the shop itself, call 433-1487.

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com