Battle Ground is becoming a gravitational center of vintage inspiration for the home.
Main Street is home to seven stores devoted to vintage, antique, upcycled, shabby, chic and reclaimed, filled with hundreds of vendors who find pieces that can become that perfect treasure for some lucky hunter.
The grouping of stores has made Old Town Battle Ground a destination for shoppers and vintage dealers from Salem to Seattle.
Posh + Tattered
“Old Town already had that vintage vibe, once there were a couple stores that had been here for a while, it seemed natural to go there.” Karen Helmes, co-owner of Posh + Tattered with Lily Isaacson and Holly Kandoll for two and a half years.
“Each store (in Battle Ground) has its own vibe, with customers for each type of store,” she said. Helmes describes Posh + Tattered as a place that specializes in the boutique style, with vintage items, reclaimed wood, furniture, home pillows and baby clothes. They make sure the vendors that populate their store with items all fit a “flow,” said Helmes, “it should feel like it all belongs to one person.”
Antique and vintage home d?cor has been influenced by trends from websites such as Pintrest and television shows such as “Fixer Upper.” Social media has played a growing part of their business, especially for advertising items, said Helmes. “We’ll put something on Instagram, and someone will come right to the store to buy it (that day).”
A Vintage Gathering
Lori Harris and A Vintage Gathering started selling vintage and antique items nearly 10 years ago, doing biannual sales at a friend’s farm, until her gatherings got too large for the rural space. Now A Vintage Gathering has held its storefront for two and a half years at the west end of Main Street.
“We pride ourselves on being eclectic without a lot of overlapping (of styles and items),” Harris said.
The mixture comes from 26 vendor booths, with items ranging from custom jewelry and new products to antique and dealers who specialize in primitive items.
“Primitive is basically pre-turn of the century, some people would look and say Americana,” said Harris. Think of items used by American settlers on the frontier — simple furniture and functional pieces such as hog scrapers or noodle boards.
“What on earth is a noodle board? But back then people use to make their own noodles, laying them out on the board to dry,” she said. Inspired decorators use these noodle boards to cover the tops of kitchen ranges.
Other vendors at A Vintage Gathering carry new lines of exclusive products, said Harris, including one that’s devoted to handmade items made only in Washington and Oregon.
Nest Vintage
Janell Johns bought Nest Vintage two years ago from LaLonie and Jim Walker, transforming from a vendor to owner in just one year. “They were closing it down. I couldn’t see it close,” she said.
Johns is also a special education teacher assistant with the Battle Ground Public Schools, so she relies on the help of the store’s 50 vendors at the 5,000-square-foot store.
“I like our store because it’s eclectic, every vendor is unique,” she said. Many offer handmade items, from felted wool to shirts, milk glass, vinyl records and candles. One of her former students sells hand-painted pots, and since she uses a wheelchair, she helps make sure the aisles are wide and clear.
“We have regulars who come in each week, everyone from young adults to older couples,” Johns said. “It’s neat to see how people are redoing things.”
“To each person, the value of something is different, you just have to find a medium in among that. You have to somehow find that price that is saleable, not really what it’s worth,” said Janice Kaski, owner of Main Street Station, which has been providing vintage and antique items for 14 years.
“When you see these new stores, you wonder how this is going to be, if there will be more competition? But it’s turned out to be a good thing,” said Kaski. “Everyone has got along great. We promote each other’s stores (to customers).”
Main Street Station
In recent years, Kaski has opened up Main Street Station to others, with 17 vendors setting up booths in the store, offering everything from linens to lighting, furniture to second-hand clothing.
“When I first started out, I was by myself. It was a lot of work,” said Kaski. “Oh my word, these girls just have a good eye, they come up with very neat booths.”
Even on vacation with her husband, Kaski can help but urge him to stop by a garage or estate sale. “I do it because I enjoy it,” said Kaski. “It’s always the thrill of the find.”
Kaski said the most important thing is that Main Street Station has a little bit of everything, a variety that helps draw in customers of across generations. “I’m a people person, I like visiting with people. To me smiles are free,” said Kaski. “People are curious, they like to look and talk about the past.”
Urban Basics
Kari Huegel fell into ownership of Urban Basics accidently four years ago, thanks to a spur-of-the-moment purchase of the former five and dime store by her son, leaky roof and all.
“We had the biggest, ugliest store in Battle Ground,” she said. It’s a building that had seen many lives, from a creamery to grocery store. Her sons, Derek and Travis, owners of a construction company, helped fix it up. Unsure about running a vintage store, but needing to fill the space, she said she put out a sign asking for vintage and antique vendors. 150 vendors now occupy half the store.
“The amazing part is, I didn’t think I could do it. In Battle Ground, (vintage) is something they like and want,” she said. To manage that, Urban Basics uses the e-commerce software platform Shopify, which allows the store’s vendors log in and list every item they have for sale. “Then we can go on the computer and look up a customer request like lavender and then we can go to their booth and say, here it is.”
The other half of Urban Basics carries quality fabrics for quilting, notions and yarn, plus arts and craft supplies. “It was my dream as a child to have my own fabric store,” Huegel said, “funny thing in life happened, and I acquired it without meaning to.” She said she buys quality overstock fabric, which allows her to offer a better price to customers.
Rusty Glamour
“I never dreamed that I would own a store,” said Lea Kangas, owner of Rusty Glamour for five years. “I never would have dreamed it would have taken off like it did.”
Rusty Glamour recently moved into what was an originally an old butcher’s shop, vacant for 30 years. But like many other vintage things, it was an ideal place to Kangas for her store.
“We want to make it affordable for people who like pretty things,” said Kangas, “so we make stuff.” The building’s big wood beams and exposed brick walls were enhanced by a “ghost sign” created by an artist, a ode to the advertising signs found faded on the outside of buildings.
The building houses the creative efforts of 50 women, and Kangas credits them for the store’s vibrancy. “Some women support their family, some do it for a hobby. Everybody inspires everybody else, and it all blends together so well,” Kangas said.
Kangas said she sees things on Pintrest that inspire her to try and make it herself.
“My motto is, I like to make something out of nothing,” Kangas said, “it’s the most satisfying thing for me.” She said many of her regular customers are vintage dealers from out of town, looking to buy unique items that they can resell in their own shops.
“We have buyers from Lake Oswego, the Puget Sound, California. They’ll bring their trailers.”
El & Em
A white cottage on Main Street has been the home to El & Em for three years. It’s named for Denise Johnson’s grandparents, Eleanor and Emmit. As a child, she would john her grandparents as they traveled to antique stores and flea markets. Johnson has been teaching home d?cor classes for over 20 years.
El & Em focuses on teaching skills to do it Do-It-Yourself, with half the store devoted to a workshop classroom, supplied and tools. All the stores in Battle Ground carry different lines of paint, ideally for transforming a piece of furniture with “good bones” piece and transform it into something stylish or on trend. Johnson recently wrapped up a winter camp for kids.
“I walk you through step by step,” she said, with classes highlighting different paint techniques, woodworking and restoration, along with paper crafts and mixed media. Johnson says her classes help give people confidence in doing a project themselves.
“They can paint a small project and learn the technique, then apply it to a dresser or whatever. It takes away the scary,” Johnson said. The cottage also offers vintage pieces, d?cor and gift items for sale.
“First Friday is a really cool thing,” Johnson said. “A lot of the stores will close early the Thursday before to prep, spiff up and just offer a fresh look for the month.”
El & Em will offer small projects and workshops to visitors, “usually a little crafty thing,” she said. “It’s the busiest day of the whole month. People look forward to it, plan around it.”
All of the stores participate in First Friday, offering refreshments and store specials, while individual vendors will showcase new finds.
“Variety and different styles — I think that’s what helps to bring people in from a far,” said Johnson. “Even people who live in Battle Ground have said, ‘I haven’t been to that part of town in forever.”
