Into the City and Through the Woods
By Laura Cassidy, Anna Roth, and Angela Garbes
Gather
Like the hot gallery/watering-hole hybrids all around town, Gather is a nontraditional space that always changes. Owner Jenn Jones is passionate about featuring original ideas, whether they’re on the retail side—dinnerware or handmade jewelry—or the just-looking side. From November 28 through January 4, Jones fills the space with usable art like brilliant blown glasses by local artist Levi Belber. Who gets it Exiles in less interesting cities who miss Seattle’s upscale-earthy aesthetic. Gather, 4863 Rainier Ave S, Columbia City, 206-465-0084; www.gatherseattle.com
Village Green Yoga Eco-Boutique
Jean Massimo outfits the shop inside her Issaquah studio with organic jeans and workout gear, om-tastic exercise accessories, and a thoughtful selection of life-affirming tomes. One of Bamboo Dreams’ soft-and-sexy bamboo wrap tops and some booty-hugging yoga pants from Inner Waves Organics update any yogi’s look without harming the planet. Now that’s what we call balance. Who gets it The blissed-out pal whose well-worn Nirvana T-shirt has nothing to do with the band. Village Green Yoga, 317 NW Gilman Blvd, Ste 1, Issaquah, 425-657-0411; www.villagegreenyoga.com
Glenna’s Clothing
Fashion isn’t afraid to fake it. Right now, faux baubles are so in. From J. Crew to Burberry Prorsum, everyone’s doing them, but this beloved Tacoma vintage shop has the “real” deals: nickel, resin, glass, crystal, Lucite, rhinestone, and plastic cuffs, earrings, and necklaces. Who gets it If she wears an H & M dress with YSL heels, she’ll take a shine to costume jewelry. Glenna’s Clothing, 783 Broadway, Tacoma, 253-627-8501
Revival Home and Garden
Now here’s a good-looking store. Sleek gray floors and walls provide a simple, cool background for superglossy, Gothic Revival candlesticks and throw pillows in the grassiest green. An emerald wall in the back nods to the shop’s garden supplies and provides a dramatic backdrop for diggable tools. Who gets it Domino magazine readers and their live-in loves. Revival Home and Garden, 5515 Airport Way S, Georgetown, 206-763-3886; www.revivalhomeandgarden.blogspot.com
Bike Works
Sustainable cycling, Seattle-style: This innovative community-service org and reworked-bike boutique not only teaches kids about wrenches, tire pumps, and team building, it peddles refurbished bikes back to the community via retail sales. The recycled two-wheelers just might save landfill space and keep cars out of gas stations to boot. Who gets it Kids who have learned the value of hard work, or kids who need to, and kids of all ages who just want to ride. Bike Works, 3709 S Ferdinand St, Columbia City, 206-725-9408; www.bikeworks.org
Click! Design That Fits
If ever a universal gift existed, it’s the one-cup French press pot, available in kitschy-cool colors reminiscent of mom’s Tupperware days, on offer in what feels like John and Frances Smersh’s front room. We’re sure the Smershes actually live somewhere, you know, else, but the cleverly designed and often-local lifestyle items in their West Seattle storefront create an atmosphere of home, sweet home. All the better for imagining the woodsy frames and carved cheese boards in someone else’s. Who gets it Hard-to-shop for brothers will like the unusual wallets and laptop bags; similarly persnickety sisters will love Frances’s colored-concrete and silver jewelry. Click! Design That Fits, 2210 California Ave SW, West Seattle, 206-328-9252; www.clickdesignthatfits.com
Published: November 2008
