Forage Gifts and
Northwest Treasures
Where: 121 W. Washington St., Sequim
Phone: 360-797-1018
Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday;
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
If you’ve got friends or family coming to the Olympic Peninsula this summer — and who doesn’t — you might want to steer them to a new shop bursting with all matter of things Pacific Northwest in downtown Sequim.
Theresa Rubens, an unabashed Sequim booster and native, has been in business on Washington Street for the past 15 years with her shop Solar City Boutique and Retreat. This week she’s opening a new venture, Forage Gifts and Northwest Treasures at 121 W. Washington St.
“The reason for the store is that I would have guests and customers ask where they could get something with Sequim on it — we don’t have a souvenir gift shop anymore,” Rubens said. “Last Labor Day a couple asked about buying Sequim sweatshirts and I didn’t know where to send them. When we can’t provide that in Sequim, it really seems a shame.”
Rubens explained the concept for the gift shop is rooted in her experiences of growing up in the Northwest.
“It’s how I see the Pacific Northwest, the mountains to the sea, and it encompasses all that is Sequim,” Rubens said. “Foraging to me, in the forest or on the beach, is an act of collecting and it’s a
really good way to explain how, when you’re collecting things (souvenirs and keepsakes) in the Northwest, that you’re foraging.”
Jeff Rubens, her husband and a contractor, remodeled the building based on her fond memories of the Lake Quinault Lodge at the forefront, so the space has lots of rustic Northwest texture, with an electric fireplace faced with stones hand-picked from the Dungeness River, its mantel a slab of old-growth wood. Cedar beams and railroad tie planks add to the woodsy atmosphere.
“Its lodge-like feel is very inviting,” Rubens said, and whimsical, too, with three racks of foldable maps on display in repurposed galvanized gutters. “It’s a wonderful original building — it was the town tavern — and it will be nice for people to see the transformation.”
The shop is designed to represent the Pacific Northwest for novelty souvenirs and gifts and offers local and regional products, which include sweatshirts,
T-shirts and mugs emblazoned with a Sequim logo in blue and white that Rubens designed with a vintage look. For warmth and a classy look, fleece wear always is a great choice and Rubens carries men’s and women’s styles from small to 2X that have been laser-embossed with a variety of Northwest outdoor scenes, coming in blue, grey, turquoise and purple, the latter Sequim’s signature color.
Visitors may want to collect a set of generous mugs featuring Northwest animals and birds, with descriptive information about each on the side. Renown Olympics photographer Ross Hamilton’s calendars, books, guides and postcards are truly treasures to take home and enjoy. Rubens said his 2017 calendar is now in stock. Laser-etched doodads with a Sequim design such as bottle openers, pocket knives, pins and key chains are mementos that are useful, too. Browsers will give a knowing nod and smile when they read some of the inspirational — and humorous — quotes on My Word signs. To lend a Northwest theme to visitors’ decor, Forage will display and sell laser-cut steel wall-mounted art featuring intricate ocean, forest and mountain scenes.
“My favorite part is the field guides, including a ‘Sasquatch’ field guide. I have lots of maps of the Pacific Northwest on paper or laminated plus many foldable maps,” Rubens said.
It’s been a process of several months to get open and Rubens gives much credit and gratitude to her husband Jeff for supporting her from concept to reality; for the expertise of Kevin Hoult of the Small Business Development Center in Port Angeles; Craft 3, that financed the business; and landlords Brown M. and Sara Maloney.
“I don’t think I would be doing this without a great team,” Rubens said.
“My hope is to make it a seasonal store: in the spring focusing on gardening, growing, agriculture, birding and fishing; summer on adventure, discovery, beach combing, crabbing, hiking and biking; fall on harvest, ballooning, mushrooming and hunting of ducks, elk and deer; and winter on holiday spirit and a cozy lodge-like warmth,” Rubens explained.
She plans a soft opening for Forage on Thursday, May 19. Business hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.
