CARMEN JOYEUX was alone, typing at her desk, when she heard boxes rattling at the other end of the room.
The stock supervisor at Lullaby Lane on San Mateo Avenue figured it was another employee rifling around and went back to work. Seconds later, the empty chair next to her swiveled on its own and moved away from her.
Then she did something anybody would have done in her situation.
"Ha! I took off," said the 63-year-old Daly City resident, who ran down the flight of steps onto the main floor. "I didn't wait a second to see what's next. I spent the rest of the day downstairs. That was it for me."
Lullaby Lane's owners and employees believe the store is haunted.
The owners say it is Jean Brown, an employee who helped get the baby store off the ground in the 1950s.
"She was the employee," said Barry Gevertz, who co-owns the San Bruno store with parents, Hal and Rosalie, and sister, Debbie Gevertz-Licolli. "The one thing she impressed upon me is a baby store had to be neat and clean. She was a stickler for detail. Now, if things were not as detailed, she gets frustrated. Boxeswould end up on the ground."
For the last 15 years, heavy footsteps echoed in the stockroom when no one is around, items fall to the floor, toys play and lights flicker on and off.
Other than hearing phantom footsteps, Joyeux never got spooked much until she saw the chair next to her spin two weeks ago.
On Thursday, she still wondered about
that day. But while talking to Faye Sears, a supervisor, and a San Mateo County Times photographer, a Barbie lunchbox fell to the floor from a top shelf. Unfortunately, they didn't see it fall.
Joyeux �?a Roman Catholic who sprinkled holy water on her chair to ward off evil spirits �?is a little bit of a believer now.
"I have to come back to work," she said. "I'm strong."
San Mateo County seems to have plenty of haunted places. Kohl Mansion in Burlingame is said to be haunted by Frederick Kohl, and the "Lady in White" can be seen on a foggy day through rearview mirrors at the intersection of Skyline and Hickey boulevards in Daly City.
The Gevertzes have not invited paranormal experts to document the events nor have they called electricians to investigate the flickering lights.
They have no intention of letting her go.
"She took care of everybody," co-owner Rosalie Gevertz said.
Gloria Young, founder and director of Ghost Trackers Paranormal Research Group in Santa Clara, has documented paranormal activities nationwide for 16 years.
She said ghosts can stay at a place forever or for a short time.
"They want to say, 'I'm sorry,' or they come back to check on you," she said. "People need to know they're here and it's OK. They're not going to do anything to you. They just have a message."
All the activities in Lullaby Lane happen upstairs in the stockroom where there are rows of toys, diaper supplies, feeding monitors and baby carriers.
The Gevertzes are serious about the events that have occurred.
They said Brown died in 1980 of lung cancer. She worked at Lullaby Lane from 1952 until she retired in 1977 and lived on Linden Avenue in San Bruno with her husband.
Brown was tall, thin and had dark straight hair.
"She always had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth," said Gevertz-Licolli. "She had a raspy voice."
The family-owned business opened in 1947, initially at 488 San Mateo Ave. Thirty years ago, it moved to its current location. Brown taught the young husband and wife how to properly display and manage the merchandise.
The stockroom was immaculate, Rosalie Gevertz said.
"We always think about her," she said.
When the couple's children were old enough to help in the store, Brown also trained them. They now help run the store and are not afraid of the spirit.
"I've always felt a sense of comfort," Gevertz-Licolli said. "This woman was like a grandma to me."
In Joyeux's case, Michael Shermer, executive director of The Skeptics Society in Pasadena, doesn't believe the chair next to Joyeux swiveled on its own.
"That's earthquake country," he said. "It could have been a whoopty-do shaker there. Eye witness accounts are pretty unreliable. We only have her word for it."
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