When Robin Sibert opened her small Robin’s Nest Thrift store in 2011, little did she realize that it would become such an integral part of the Rio Vista Community. Now, as she announced the store’s closing as of Nov. 30, she is hearing from a multitude of customers about how the store was a part of their lives and how much it will be missed.
It all began in a 600-square foot space on Front Street that Fool Crow now occupies. Robin and her mom Sharon Fisher started going to storage unit auctions and picking up items to resell. Very quickly, the business evolved with people asking them to do estate auctions. With 46 percent of the Rio Vista residents being over 65 and the concentration of older people in Trilogy, this was a good target market. Her business grew quickly, and at 6 months she knew she would be needing a lot bigger space and the help of her husband Dan, who had a full time job until then.
Within a year they had moved to the large warehouse-type building near the bridge. It offered a 2,500-square foot showroom and a 2,000-square foot storage area, perfect for rotating stock as leftovers from the auctions and donations of unwanted furniture and items came in.
At the time, Robin was also managing her family of 5 children, and drew upon the assistance of her mom and her children as they got older. She is a lifelong resident of Rio Vista, and her family has always been involved in the community since they moved here in the 1950s. Her grandfather Sylvester Fisher served as mayor in the 1960s, her father Carter headed the Rio Vista Chamber, and her mother was involved in the Chamber. Robin herself was president of the Chamber and on the board of Rio Vista CARE.
This history meant that Robin’s personal life was intertwined with the store, as her school friends, her family’s acquaintances and her large extended family brought people into the Nest on a regular basis. She loved spending time talking about what they knew about Rio Vista and her family, and developed lifelong friendships as well as many regular customers.
One of those friendships, started 11 years ago, was with a young high school student named Mike Morgan and his mom Renae Kinney. Robin met them when she was handing over a yearbook scholarship, one of the many she gave out over the years. Now Mike is the manager of Robin’s newest venture, Pizza A GoGo, a local restaurant opened in January 2023.
That long-time history also taught Robin the importance of supporting and giving back in the community. Over the years she has donated money and goods to a large and diverse set of local institutions and causes, and has earned a reputation of giving every time when asked. The first donation was to Rio Vista CARE and from there the list grew to include the Rio Vista Chamber, Food Pantry, Moose Lodge, Soroptimists, Rio Vista Foundation, the new Veterans House, the Fire Department HotShots, and all the schools in the River Delta District. She also supports many sports teams including t-ball for the little ones and bocce ball for the retirees at Trilogy.
Over the years, the store evolved and extended its reach. In 2016, they bought their first box truck for hauling furniture, and then later a trailer to make the transport of furniture from estate sales easier. People began coming from nearby cities and as far away as L.A., making it a must-stop when they visited Rio Vista.
