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(Enlarge) The gift shop Gundy’s is seen in its earliest years, circa 1940, when it was located on Park Heights Avenue in the Pimlico neighborhood and was a hit with Mt. Washingtonians. At far left is Ameila Kahn, a close friend of original co-owner Jean Gundersheimer. (Photo courtesy of William Oberfelder )

Diane Lochte calls Gundy's "a mini-department store." What's more, there are two things that separate it from other gift shops in the area.

One is the surprises. Among the little bit of everything -- from jewelry to picture frames to toys to posters by local artist Greg Otto to Christmas cards to calendars to aromatherapy "shower steamer" cakes -- are smile-inducing head-scratchers like a "wine purse" and an anatomically correct male bartender apron with a corkscrew in the fly.

"We do have our sense of humor," Lochte says.

The other thing that sets Gundy's apart is its longevity.

The store opened in Pimlico in 1939; a second store opened at 5121 Roland Ave. in the '50s, moving around the corner to 739 Deepdene Road in 1984.

Gundy's will celebrate its 70th year in business -- and its 25th year on Deepdene -- with events Nov. 2-7 including 70 giveaways during the week, a cocktail infusions sampling Nov. 6 from 4 to 6 p.m., and wine and hors d'oeuvres Nov. 7 from 2 to 5 p.m.

Lochte, 54, of Woodberry, has owned Gundy's since 1994, and had worked there since 1981. But that's just a fraction of the store's history.

When Jean and Harold "Gundy" Gundersheimer first opened the store on Park Heights Avenue, they conceived it as a mini-department store. Its windows were showcases for a range of items, including picture frames, vases, stationery and pennants for colleges, according to photographs kept by William Oberfelder, the Gundersheimers' son-in-law.

"They had a zillion items -- a small quantity of each one," recalls Oberfelder, 83, of Pikesville, who gave Lochte the photos to use for the anniversary celebration.

The store even had a sign advertising dry cleaning for 45 cents for "plain items."

Gundy's was popular with Mt. Washingtonians. But when Harold Gundersheimer died in 1950, his widow remarried and moved away, selling the shop to Ruth Nachman and her husband, Fenn.

Fenn later died. In the 1950s, Ruth opened a second store at 5121 Roland Ave., now a Wachovia Bank branch. She moved the original store to Reisterstown Plaza in the early 1960s, but closed it a few years later.

The store in Roland Park was still on Roland Avenue, near Eddie's of Roland Park market, when Lochte, a young mother, went to work for Ruth Nachman two days a week in 1981.

When Gundy's moved around the corner to Deepdene in 1984, Lochte moved with it.

Under Ruth Nachman's watchful eye, Lochte learned to run Gundy's.

"Ruth was a very good teacher," Lochte said. "She was a good businesswoman and taught me everything I know."

In 1994, Lochte became the third owner in the history of Gundy's. She runs the store with a staff of five known as "Gundy Girls."

She made the store more upscale.

"Her taste is different than Ruth's was," said Gundy Girl Cindy Heath, 53, who was a customer in 1983, when she met Lochte.

But Lochte has never wavered from the "mix" that made Gundy's reputation, or the personalized service, such as free gift wrapping, that longtime customers expect.

Christmas in August

In return, she has the loyalty of customers like Ted Herget. He's been buying Christmas cards from Gundy's catalogs for 30 years.

Herget, a former longtime resident of The Orchards near Roland Park, lives in Butler now, but is still a customer -- especially in August, when the Christmas card catalogs come in.

Then, he stops in the store, picks out the style of cards he will send to family and friends that year and, as he leaves, loudly wishes everyone a "Merry Christmas" in the heat of the summer.

Priscilla Stieff, of the Stieff Silver family, has been coming to Gundy's for more than 50 years.

The former resident of Longwood Road in Roland Park now lives in Cockeysville, in the Broadmead retirement community, but she still has a Gundy's account.

Last year, 10 days before Christmas, Stieff was in a panic. She normally gives family members checks for Christmas, plus a gift to go along with the check. But she had been sick and had done no holiday shopping.

So, on her way to dinner with her husband that day, Stieff, 81, stopped at Gundy's and asked the Gundy Girls to pick out one gift for each specified family member.

She was happy to see the women select appropriate gifts without knowing the family members -- and to do so speedily.

"Within the hour, they had every one of those presents nailed and wrapped and in the car, and I'd done my Christmas shopping," Stieff said. "Now that's service."

The economy has put a damper on Lochte's business.

"In this economy, it's going to hurt everybody. I don't think it's making or breaking me, but certainly business is off," she said.

And the departure last summer of her longtime neighbor, Liz Price, owner of the pet grooming and supplies store Shear Grace, has hurt Gundy's foot traffic, Lochte said.

Shear Grace, formerly Ronkin's Pet Supplies, had been on Deepdene for more than 60 years when Price, who owned it for the last 15 years, closed it in August.

The retail space is still vacant and for lease.

Lochte said most of her merchandise can be sold all year-round, so she is buying in the same quantities as she has in holiday seasons past. And if merchandise doesn't sell as well this year, she just won't buy as much of it in January.

"What I buy is not a seasonal thing," Lochte said. "It's not going to go bad. A picture frame is a picture frame."

'A happy business'

Gundy's is in a good location to ride out the recession -- next to the popular Children's Bookstore, just around the corner from mainstays Tuxedo Pharmacy, Eddie's, Starbucks and three banks, and within walking distance of the Roland Park Post Office and several schools, including Roland Park Country School and Roland Park Elementary/Middle School.

"It's the mix of the neighborhood that makes it all work," she said.

As long as customers are happy, so is she.

"It's a happy business," she said.

Lochte isn't thinking about leaving any time soon.

"I'll be here on a walker," she said, laughing. "I'm not goin' anywhere."

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