Mary Norton

Mary Norton is known in Pacific Grove as the puzzle lady. She has short white hair and always wears color-coordinated outfits. On the streets, she is hard to miss, thanks to her bright yellow Smart car festooned with puzzle pieces. And when she is out and about, kids point and say: “Look, there’s the puzzle lady!”

Norton, 68, is proud of that moniker.

“I wanted to be known as the puzzle lady, and darn, here I am,” she says.

She earned it by operating puzzle shops in Pacific Grove for more than 10 years, and providing the customer service expected from charming small American towns. At The Puzzle Lady, on the 200 block of Forest Avenue, the interior is colorful. Hundreds of puzzles of animals, cartoons, fine art and other categories are shelved and a large table in the middle of the shop is always set up with a jigsaw puzzle in-progress.

Norton shows no sign of letting up. As long as she can make enough money to pay rent, utilities and order more puzzles, she says she’ll continue to be Pacific Grove’s puzzle lady. She sells hundreds of puzzles, and welcomes kids, tourists and adults to stop in not just to shop but to socialize, have snacks and assemble puzzles right there. The Weeklycaught up with her while there was a partly-finished 1,000-piece puzzle depicting ancient Rome on the table.

Weekly: What got you into puzzles?

Norton: I am the youngest of 13, and my mother – she was pretty clever – would be cooking and we would have a snack, and in this corner of the huge kitchen, there was a card table and some of us would gather around and work on the puzzles. We would all be around the table doing the puzzle, talking and just relaxing. I think my mother did that to get information from us, to see how we were doing at school, who our friends were, who was bullying us, because she couldn’t keep up with everybody.

How did you start out in the puzzle business?

I started out with a store [called I Am Puzzled] on Grand Avenue 15 years ago. I had employees and it got to be pretty big, but I ended up closing after I got sick. I cried when I had to close [note: Norton had a heart issue and closed for four years] but the thing that touched me the most is when I reopened, the people in town were so wonderful; they had missed me. They now come just to say hello, they ask how I am doing because they don’t want me to close. I didn’t realize I had such a big following, and it really warms my heart.

Is it difficult to keep a business like this open in an expensive area like Pacific Grove?

Oh, yes. This is what I call a labor of love. You would not do this business if you wanted to make a living. Fortunately, my husband has a good job, and it allows me to have this luxury. My hope is that some day, some child that came into my store will be an adult and say: Remember the puzzle lady?

Why should parents buy puzzles for their kids?

Puzzles teach so much. Parents nowadays, when I hear them coming to the store, they say, “No, you don’t need a puzzle because you will just leave all the pieces out on the floor,” or, “You’ll make a mess.” I want to say, let them and teach them to pick up the pieces – this is what it’s about. Teach them responsibility. Teach them to take care of their things and to appreciate what their parents have bought for them. But of course, I can’t say anything.

Is your dog Louie, who’s always here with you in the store, becoming the Puzzle Dog?

He is! When I get my new business cards I am going to have a little dog on a leash standing next to me. I will put it on my car as well. I’ve only had him for a couple of months, but more people come to see him than me. He’s a good shop dog.

What’s a memorable experience you have from the shop?

A lady once came in and said she wanted to buy some puzzles for her son who was in juvenile detention, and the only thing they were allowed to have was puzzles. I helped her pick some out and never really thought about her after. A year or so later, a young man came into the shop and said he wanted to shake my hand, or better, give me a hug. He said, “I want to thank you, because if it wouldn’t have been for your puzzles I wouldn’t have made it.” He said everyone in [Juvenile Hall] loves those puzzles. They glue them and put them up on the walls so they can have something to look at and enjoy.

THE PUZZLE LADY is at 225 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. Open Tuesday to Saturday from noon to 6pm. 831-656-9282