Darryl the boxer and his brother Darryl join Gunner on the dog perch in front of Gringo Jones Imports as they watch activity around the cash register on Thursday, April 22, 2021. After 25 years of operation owner Leon Jones, 73, announced that he is selling his building, perhaps the contents, and moving home to southern Illinois. “People have told me that I cannot close, so I tell them ‘write me a big check’,” said Jones. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Nic Jones secures a rooster to a display rack at Gringo Jones Imports on Thursday, April 22, 2021. After 25 years of operation owner Leon Jones, 73, announced that he is selling his building and moving home to southern Illinois. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Nic Jones works to arrange the animals outside Gringo Jones Imports in the Shaw neighborhood as his uncle Leon Jones announced he is selling the building on Thursday, April 22, 2021. After 25 years of operation Jones, 73, is selling his building and perhaps the contents. “People have told me that I cannot close, so I tell them ‘write me a big check’,” he said. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Gringo Jones Imports employee Miguel Brinkley clears a giant rooster out of the way as he arranges garden ornaments on Thursday, April 22, 2021. After 25 years of operation Leon Jones, 73, announced that he is selling his building. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Nic Jones moves a rooster to a display rack at Gringo Jones Imports on Thursday, April 22, 2021. After 25 years of operation owner Leon Jones, 73, announced that he is selling his building and moving home to southern Illinois. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Gringo Jones Imports owner Leon Jones carries Sam, followed by brothers Darryl and Darryl and Gunner as he walks them through his store headed for the yard for a bathroom break on Thursday, April 22, 2021. After 25 years of operation Jones, 73, is selling his building and perhaps the contents. “People have told me that I cannot close, so I tell them ‘write me a big check’,” he said. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS — A well-known south St. Louis property has hit the market: the building that is home to Gringo Jones Imports.
The store, on Shaw Boulevard near the Missouri Botanical Garden, is a much-loved source for St. Louisans seeking pottery, antiques and oddities. It’s also a landmark, its outdoor patio cluttered with stone sculptures, yard art and towering metal giraffes.
The building that houses Gringo Jones Imports, a fixture in the Shaw neighborhood for 25 years, is for sale. Owner Leon Jones is only planning to sell the building, but for the right price the contents could go as well.
Owner Leon Jones confirmed on Thursday that he has listed the building for $600,000. Jones said he does not know what the future holds for the shop, in its 25th year.
If it sells, he said he would likely move closer to his hometown in southern Illinois, where he has a large extended family. He would like to start a smaller-scale wholesale business, which he thinks would give him more freedom, day to day.
Jones said his business has been going strong. In fact, over the past year, many residents who couldn’t travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic instead opted to fix up their lawns and yards, and so they frequented Gringo Jones Imports.
“Business is good, so it’s not that,” Jones said Thursday. “It’s just sort of a time thing. … I’ve done it for 25 years, and I think I’m ready to move back to where I’m from.”