A squished tube of paint does not sell. No one knows this better than Jeff Holmes, owner of Napa Valley Art Supplies and Cartons and Crates.

Holmes has paint on his mind, as the shipper and art supplier prepares to ship itself to a new location across town this weekend, into the former California Woodworks storefront on California Boulevard.  

“Packing is the key,” said Holmes, who will supervise the relocation of thousands of boxes, bubble wrap, paintbrushes, canvases and tubes of paint.

Currently on Walnut Street, Holmes said his south Napa address was never intended as a permanent home. “We have been looking for years for the right spot,” he said.  

Recently closing a deal with owner Bob Shawley, Holmes purchased his California Boulevard building for $1.8 million.  

The shape of their new warehouse and retail store will work better for both the retail and packing parts of the business, said Holmes, as well as being in north Napa, “where growth and retail sales are.”

The Cartons and Crates/Napa Valley Art Supply move is good news for C. Paul Johnson, owner of Napa’s Gymnastics Zone.

When Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market signed its lease at the River Park Shopping Center, Johnson found himself looking for a new location for the popular kids gym. The task was not an easy one, given the size and height requirements for such a facility.

Trampolines, ropes and rings require at least 20-foot high ceilings and 10,000 square feet of space, said Johnson, owner of the gym since March 2007.

“That’s the tough part, to find something that high,” he said.

After seeing Holmes’ warehouse location on Walnut Street, with its 10,000-square-foot space with high ceilings, Johnson knew he’d found his new spot.

In a press release, Johnson wrote that the move will allow the Gymnastics Zone to offer even more programs for children. The Gymnastics Zone has 350 members, plus another 40 children from the Napa Community Resources Department, who use the gym for recreation classes.

The larger space will house newer equipment, including dedicated areas for special programs, toddler area featuring a foam pit, tunnels and slides. There also are more rooms for private parties and meetings. The Gymnastics Zone will open at Walnut Street on June 1.

“I love the new space,” said Margaret Van Zandt, general manager. “We really want to build up our preschool program and in this space we will be able to do that.”

Unlike the short-term lease the Gymnastics Zone had at River Park, the gym has signed a five-year lease on Walnut Street. “We’re going to be there for a while,” assured Van Zandt.

The Gymnastic Zone’s former co-tenant, Main Street Martial Arts, will also be moving from River Park Shopping Center, said owner Lance Meltzer.  

“I’m looking at space right now,” said Meltzer, whose lease expires at the end of July.  “There are three or four different options, but I don’t know where I am going to go (yet).”