After 50 years, this downtown Bellingham shop is moving into a historic space
A downtown corner shop known for its decor, housewares and furniture is moving locations, leaving from Cornwall Street to a historical Bellingham building.
Greenhouse announced the move on social media back in June, as the business bought the historical building that was once home to flooring and paint store Color Pot in downtown Bellingham.
“We had the opportunity to purchase this same location several years ago but coming off of and recovering from the damage that COVID had on our small business, it wasn’t a feasible option at that time, and the building quickly went pending with a developer from Seattle who intended to demolish it and build condominiums,” Greenhouse owner Bre Green wrote in an email to The Herald. “When we got word a year ago that the developer was pulling out of the contract we were immediately interested at the opportunity. Our hearts and energy are always invested in downtown, and this opportunity to restore the building back to its original facade (or as close as we could get to its original) from 1922 and move our warehouse and our store to the same location, while also staying downtown, seemed like too good to be true.”
The new Greenhouse location will replace both the Cornwall Avenue retail shop and the business’ warehouse at 1936 Grant St.
“We will remain actively open for business every day through our move to our new location. Once our move is officially complete and we are open at 1210 N. State St., our Grant Street location, which is simply our warehouse, will cease to have operations, but we will still have our Cornwall location open for a few weeks after the new location opens to sell through final clearance items and other fixtures that we were not able to or did not need to move,” Green said.
As for the new location, remodeling is still being done before the business can move in, but it is planned to open next month.
“Our hope is to open and have our grand opening event around the first or second week of October. Readers should watch our social media and email newsletters for official dates and events and savings. We are thrilled to welcome everyone to the new space to see the restoration of the 1922 building that was originally King & Dahl Tire,” Green said.
The new location will feature the retail shop on the main level and the warehouse and staging operations on the upper level, allowing the business to house all its operations at one address. The new location also has 20% more parking spaces than the previous locations, according to Green.
As the business remodels the historic building, Green is also striving to keep the history protected and celebrated brick by brick.
“While restoring the building, our goal is to maintain as much of the original brick as possible, as well as restoring the 1922 personality, beauty and heritage and paying honor to the Color Pot that so generously occupied that space for so many years and is still a favorite memory of so many of our guests, friends and customers,” Green said.
“Greenhouse has evolved through so many locations over the years since it originally opened in 1972. It originally opened on N. State St. in the same location that is now Y’s Buy’s — just 3 doors down and on the same block as our new location at 1210 N State St.”
The new shop will also carry new brands and services that the current retail shop lacks, as Green also continues to expand her home-staging side of the business.
“Our business continues to invest and innovate with the community and adapt to the ever-changing and evolving needs of the consumer,” Green said. “ COVID impacted our business, just like so many others downtown, significantly. I knew there was no way I could survive the huge loss in sales that started in 2020 and carried on for several years and still stay an open downtown pillar retailer and employ the team I had without innovating my business beyond just ‘downtown retail.’ At that time I was staging homes for my husband’s listings, and I had just finished staging 24 homes for HGTV in Snohomish.
“Having the inventory and the large investment into HGTV and those 24 homes, I decided to step into staging in the Whatcom County real estate market for two highly successful Realtors. From there, our staging popularity and demand grew, and in 2022 we went from staging a couple homes a week in January to staging upwards of 36 homes a month in the peak of the summer. Our success continued into 2023, and we continued to invest into that side of the business and our ability to create ‘mini’ showrooms across the county and help sellers and others in the community.”
Greenhouse is currently open during its moving sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at 1235 Cornwall Ave.
Once opened, the new location at 1210 N State St. will have the same operating hours.
