Community rallies behind shop owner after no one shows up for anniversary

FRESNO, Calif. -- Dave High marked 35 years in business at his Northwest Fresno vitamin store Wednesday. Thirty-five years is a pretty significant anniversary, so he had cupcakes and drinks for folks who came by.

But nobody came. That is, until Kayla Jackson and her husband walked into Sunrise Health and everything changed for High.

Jackson said, "We were just talking to him. He was just saying it was his 35th anniversary, and how he didn't expect it to be this slow. He was kind of sad that no one had come in yet."

So Jackson did the only thing she knew to do. She took to Twitter and sent out the following message, "This is Dave, he owns Sunrise Health. Today is his 35th anniversary, and he was expecting people to come in, and no one showed up. I just got here, and he brought everything out to celebrate. Can we get him some recognition?"

But that wasn't all. Jackson tweeted a few more pictures, and then, she posted the store's phone number and said, "Call him and make his day!"

It didn't take long before the word spread far and wide.

On Thursday, High told sister station KFSN-TV, "It just went off the clock. Everybody was coming in from nine in the morning until right now. People were in the store shopping."

High's son Richard barely got a break from all the phone calls; they were coming in from everywhere including Colorado, Mexico and Hawaii.

High and his wife Christina met at Fresno State, and they opened the store right after graduation in 1983. They got married two years later. They have five children and one grandchild.

Thousands upon thousands of items line shelves around their store; everything from essential oils to foods to vitamins.

HIgh doesn't do social media. In fact, he doesn't even advertise.

He was not sure what Twitter was.

"Not so much, I will have to look on the internet and see what it means," High said.

So to what does High attribute his business longevity?

He said, "I can memorize dates, or names, and try to be friendly to people, and I've got the Irish background. Maybe it's just stubbornness."

High has a list of his customers and people he's talked to on the phone, written out by hand on a notepad. He said he might give social media a try. Jackson said she would help him.

Jackson's husband is the security guard for the shopping center. They say Dave has helped them with all kinds of products and they were happy to get the word out about his anniversary.

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