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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
July 30, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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July 30, 2020
 
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Page A-36 Shelton-Mason Journal a Thursday, July 30, 2020 COMMUNITY BUSINESS PROFILE ’North Third Street, has a lifelong love of arts and crafts. photos Justin Johnson . Sharon Schirman, majority of ISH PNW, which is on the ground floor of the 1912 Building at the corner of West Railroad Avenue and She/ton collective offers creations from nearly 700 under roof By Justin Johnson just/n@masonoounty. com lifelong love for arts and crafts has become a full days work for Shelton resident Sharon chirman. ‘ Schirman, along with business partners Jerilee Sutton and Amy Farmer, opened ISH‘ PNW in Suite A of the 1912 Building on the corner of North Third Street and West Railroad Avenue. ISH —- In Shelton Homes —— is an arts and crafts consignment store with nearly 100 vendors, mostly from Mason County. ‘ Schirman, in a email interview with the Shelton- Mason last week, wrote that she and her husband started making crafts and selling them in stores along the coast before signing up for craft fairs. . ~ “We quickly realized how much work craft fairs are (and there) was very little payout,” Schirman wrote. “It occurred to me it can’t just be me feeling this way. Walking through craft fairs and seeing all these amazing artists and all their talent and it’s only seen in that one weekend in that one location . was kinda sad. I wanted a place where you could find all those things all the time. I wanted to have one place that represents the talent of our commu- nity because there is so much out there. “When I want to make a gift basket of locally made items I don’t want to have to go all across the county to find those items. I wanted one centralized location Where those things would be. Here at ISH we offer that to the community.” Schirman, Sutton and Farmer initially planned to open the store with items made by the trio, but Schirman pitched an idea to the group about having other artists as consigners at the store as well, thinking it would be a good opportunity for local craft— ers and artisans to show off and sell their work. . “We had our first meeting where we advertised on Facebook that we would be meeting with local artists and crafters,” Schirman wrote. “We expected maybe 20- people max. The first meeting, our room was totally packed. We probably signed 30 vendors to begin wit .” Interest grew quickly and ISH PNW had 40 vendors signed on by its Feb. 18 soft opening. It now boasts 99. “We’ve definitely had to be flexible as when you’re working with that many people there’s always going to be unique challenges that arise,” Schirman wrote. “Having almost 100 different personalities be represented under one roof is awesome but a ton of work.” Adding to the challenges faced with opening any new business, it was barely a month after the store opened that the coronavirus hit Washington and many business were forced to limit operations or shut down completely. - Schirman wrote that many of ISH PNW’s vendors were able to make essential items, such as face masks, soap, hand sanitizer and laundry detergent. During phase one reopening under Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start coronavi- ' rus reopening plan, ISH PNW opened by appointment only. Customers would communicate with Schirman through the store’s Facebook page, sending them pictures of items and assem— bling their order be- ‘ fore they stopped at appointment time to the store during their purchase and pick up the items. “We had > some very long days because I wanted to make sure everybody who needed a '- face maskor hand sanitizer got what they needed so we stayed open “ much longer - hours to accom- modate that,” Schirman wrote. “I also offered delivery at that time. So many mornings and evenings when I would leave the store Iwas doing deliveries to people who werevunable to leave their homes at that time.” . Schirman’s favorite part of the. store is seeing what new crafters and vendors bring in to sell. “When they bring us new items it’s like deco- rating for Christmas all over again every time,” ' Schirman wrote. “We spend a lot of time rte-arrang- ing the store to help highlight as many vendors as we can at a time.” ‘ Schirman and her partners would eventual like to continue expanding, but wrote that the current economy make it difficult to foresee what the future holds. ' “All I know is that we really enjoy meeting with the artists and seeing what they have to offer,” Schirman wrote. “We are very blessed to live in a community with so many talented people.” warns: 221 West Railroad Ave. Suite A, Shelton HOURS: 11 am to 4 pm. Monday and Saturday, 11 am to 5:30 pm. ' Tuesday to Friday ~ ‘ MORE lNFORMA‘I’lON: Find ISH PNW on Facebook.