David Zaloudek’s businesses, Marcella June’s Coffee Lounge and Periodilluminations, started out as a hobby when he met a jolly gay man who did antique picture frame restoration next to a gay coffee shop where Zaloudek lived in Oregon.

“I ended up asking Chuck to give me lessons on how to restore a mirror and frame my parents received as a wedding gift in 1950,” Zaloudek said. “My interest was keen and I developed a new skill.”

He united that with a new-found love of collecting and restoring chandeliers when he decided to leave the corporate world and moved to San Diego with his partner.

It was here he took a job at Starbucks and met his new best friend Hilda, who was the assistant store manager.

“When I got ready to put together the coffee lounge/lighting showroom concept, it seemed only fitting for Hilda to be a part of the ‘dream.’

They decided that the coffee lounge needed to be representative of Zaloudek’s antique lighting offerings, while looking “fabulous” and offering a homey feeling, comfortable enough to kick off your shoes, he said.

The feel, the look, the energy all manifested into a unique offering of hand crafted beverages, as well as hand crafted lighting treasures and the doors opened at Marcella June’s Coffee Lounge with lighting by Periodilluminations a few weeks ago.

Zaloudek invites the community to enjoy the marriage of his two loves, where the portrait of his mother, Marcella June, proudly hangs.

“Come and make me successful, experience our fabulousness and don’t disappoint my mama.”