By Laura Swanson
As we settled in for an interview at Wild Café with Unfurl owners Suzy Freeman and Judson Moore, they were immediately taken back to the late 1990’s as they embarked on a life in Manzanita. It all started right there – Wild Café, formerly Mother Nature’s, was their first foray into business in Manzanita. Here’s how it all started … “I was doing field biology work for the Tillamook State Forest and staying in Manzanita,” explains Suzy. “And Jud was working in Portland, coming down weekends.” She continued, “We had both been overcome with the overwhelming sense of this place being home, and how can we make a life here?” A favorite spot for Suzy was Mother Nature’s Health Food store, and in the Fall of 1997 in conversation with the owner Suzy discovered the store wasn’t doing well and the owner was selling, and he suggested she should consider buying the store if she wanted to keep it around.
A month later, Jud and Suzy were married and the owners of Mother Nature’s which really was a perfect fit for the couple. In Portland, Jud had worked for the iconic Nature’s food stores, so he knew a little something about operating a local, organic health foods store. “The community has always been so welcoming and supportive, providing encouragement to us,” said Jud. In those days, there was really only Jeff Trenary at Kingfisher Farms for local produce. There was no produce distribution and sourcing local foods was a challenge. “We’d make trips into Portland and fill our car, figuring out to make it all fit, and working 24/7,” they explained. Mother Nature’s nurtured many other entrepreneurs and was instrumental in helping provide other local farmers and producers an outlet for their products, which continues today at Wild Market & Café. Suzy reminisced over the displays “These were in Mother Natures,” she explains as she juggles paper mache fruit and veggies on display, “and that wagon was my brothers.”
Suzy made the transition from biology to merchandising and as she noted, “I love good local food.”
Fast forward a few years, as more products become available, and Mother Nature’s expanded into eco-friendly, organic clothing. “We weren’t really looking to start another business,” said Suzy. “But this special space became available, and it just all aligned, we looked around and asked ‘what does the area need?’” They named the business over washing dishes, they came up with “Unfurl” and the fiddlehead fern logo, an action word, a verb that described their philosophy to be growing and expanding, constantly discovering. In 2004, on Memorial Day weekend Unfurl opened in Manzanita. Focused on sustainable clothing brands, driven by community requests, they sought to put into practice their ideals to keep clothes out of landfills, support environmentally friendly products, and elevate local producers. For a couple years, they operated both businesses, then Unfurl expanded, and Mother Nature’s was sold in 2006.
With a focus now on Unfurl, Jud and Suzy discovered more products and sustainable fabrics along with eco-friendly manufacturing practices that aligned with their mission – to provide quality, comfortable, long lasting clothes that people love. It also extends to the shopping experience – the “Cheers-like” atmosphere (a popular 90’s sitcom with the theme – where everyone knows your name), an emphasis on feeling good, classic brands, low pressure and customers are left to browse. “We want people to come in, look at nice stuff, have a good conversation, be in a happy place and visit again and again,” said Suzy. There’s also a message and education that comes with shopping at Unfurl as they carry lots of brands that have really cool stories , and customers not only feel good because the clothes are comfortable, but they can feel good about how the clothes came to be. Every store says “something for everyone” but it’s truly fulfilled at Unfurl as you’ll find not just “something” but something special that will be treasured for years to come. Unfurl has increased the amount of gift items they carry as candles, candies, unique food items and other just plain fun things have been added to the cozy, comfortable, feel-good clothing items for men, women and children.
They walk their talk about environmentally-conscious products and giving back, in 2010 they partnered with 1% for the Planet – and designated five local nonprofits as the recipients: the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, North Coast Land Conservancy, Lower Nehalem Community Trust and Heart of Cartm. One-percent doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up and through the program, Unfurl has donated over $200,000 to these local programs. Talking about contributions to the community, they have employed over 100 people, helped many past employees launch other businesses and been an integral part of the overall vitality of the Manzanita business community. “We’ve been so lucky (they said this a lot about many aspects of the interview) … managing the crew has been one of the great joys, having really great people working with us,” they enthused. The same comments about their customers. “So many of our customers have become our friends,” said Suzy. “We love living here and to look back to see how we were able to create our own jobs … we just feel really fortunate,” said Jud. “And we love working together, even after all these years,” he added. Suzy nodded, “We love our connections to the community. It’s still fun and we’re going to ride it as long as we can.” Often asked about expanding or selling through a website doesn’t appeal to them. “You gotta experience it with all the senses, and another store – then it wouldn’t be unique,” said Jud. There are sacrifices, and they are still working on “not working so much” as they still work seven days a week.
One aspect of their business that they both enjoy, and they put a lot of time into, is their social media. “We just want to share our love for all the beautiful places in our area,” explained Suzy. Their social media features our local area beaches, their staff and other special places with fun snappy captions, stylized music with clever editing.
That’s where you’ll find all of the information about their month-long 20th birthday celebration throughout May. There are going to be some exciting new product introductions, “Something I’ve been dreaming of for years,” teases Suzy. There will be special product pop-ups, sales and much more. On Memorial Day weekend, May 25th and 26th – there will be live music and lots of exciting experiences, giveaways and more. To get in on the good stuff, just hop on over and follow/like Unfurl Manzanita https://www.facebook.com/unfurl.manzanita or on Instagram. Unfurl is located at 447 Laneda Avenue in downtown Manzanita, open seven days a week from 11 am to 5 pm.
Congratulations on 20 wonderful years and here’s to unfurling for 20 more!
