TESS' KITCHEN STORE continues a long tradition in downtown Grass Valley, dating back to 1931, when Tess Hocking opened the Golden Poppy at 145 Mill Street. In the early 1950's, Tess' son, Robert Hocking, took over and renamed the store Tess' Gift Shop in honor of his mother. It was about this time that Tess' established its wedding registry service.

Despite several changes in ownership and product mix since then, the store has always kept the name "Tess" and has maintained its wedding registry service. In 1996, the current owner, Rita Burns, purchased the store, Tess' Gift and Card Shop. After a couple of years, in response to changing times and customer requests, Tess' began offering its customers an increasing number of housewares products. By the beginning of 2000, Tess' transformation into a gourmet kitchen store was complete and the store was renamed Tess' Kitchen Store.

Tess' has thrived as a gourmet kitchen store, carrying major brand names in cookware, bakeware, cutlery and kitchen electrics and has over 1,000 different gadgets and utensils. Tess' Kitchen Store has been voted "Best Kitchen Store in Nevada County" by the readers of The Union newspaper each of the past six years (2004-2009).

In October of 2007, Tess' expanded by moving a few doors down the block to its present location at 153 Mill Street, bringing all its spirit and traditions with it and has now added on-line access to its wedding and gift registry lists.

Tess' Kitchen Store prides itself on customer service, having an extraordinarily knowledgeable, friendly and helpful sales staff. Tess' combines the best of all worlds with its home-town friendly service and competitively-priced quality brand name products.