Boutique expands by more than 4,000 square feet

Stacey’s Vintage Art Boutique expanded its storefront by 4,190 square feet this spring.

Located east off the Tea exit, owner Stacey Namminga said the timing of the opening of the expanded space has come at a time when local artisans are facing festival cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional space has allowed for people to get off her waiting list and into a booth space.

“The timing with all of the events being cancelled because of coronavirus, a lot of people were looking for spaces to sell their items. They were looking for a place for all of these things they had created to sell at shows and different events and now a lot of those aren’t happening. Now they have a spot here where they can send people and since we’re open every day that helps,” she said.

Namminga has remained open throughout the pandemic. Customers and vendors have appreciated that.

“There were a couple of weeks in there when we didn’t have a lot of people in here, but a lot of people appreciated that we were open because have nice wide spaces. There was plenty of spaces where they could be and shop and not feel crowded,” she said.

With the addition, shoppers now have just over 10,000 square feet of space to shop for everything from jewelry to furniture to cups to clothing to home decor. They can browse through approximately 100 vendors throughout the building.

Namminga noted that construction on the section began last fall. They got the beams up before winter and then started enclosing it after the first of the year. Her goal was to open that section April 1 but it took until May 1 to wrap up construction.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, work on the parking lot will begin. The store will be closed July 3-5 so they can install drain tile in the parking lot and pour another swath of concrete to make the parking lot easier to drive on and park in. She is also planning on planting some native grasses around the east side of the building.

The addition was built taller than the existing building and allows for vendors to create more creative booths to display their wares. Booth spaces are also a little bit different in size and vendors can rent wood shelving and a table on wheels.

“That part is taller, just to make it meet people’s needs more,” Namminga said.

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