Willow Glen Resident

Community

Photograph by Brian Connelly

Homespun: Florence DeMalta, a member of the Willows Senior Center boutique committee, has her items along with other members' crafts sold at the boutique. Everything is handmade, including the stitchery that is found on the towels.

A bit of Americana found daily at the Willows Senior Center boutique shop

By Gloria Jabaut

The best-kept secret in Willow Glen is the Willows Senior Center Boutique.

The boutique, located in the senior center office on Lincoln Avenue, has a real storefront presence. Its window display entices passersby to enter with its handmade quilts, embroidered linens and handcrafted jewelry.

The store is stacked to the ceiling with linens of every type, bright children's clothing, and one-of-a-kind hats for adults and children. There is even a revolving rack of handcrafted stationery next to the cashier's counter

Ferne Hann, the clerk of the day, offers a welcoming smile. She says the boutique committee, make up of volunteer artisans, operates the store and contributes all the handmade items.

Crafted items must be accepted by the committee before they can be sold, Hann says. If approved, the artist is invited to join the group, which includes donating one day a month to operating the store.

Hann chuckles, "That's how we become clerk of the day."

The Willows Boutique is a recognized retail store, licensed to conduct business. The parks and recreation department provides the store rent-free space in the center. Boutique committee members, however, are the shop owners, with their own contracts and rules of operation.

In turn, the boutique committee gives most of its proceeds to community food drives and the Willows Senior Center Advisory committee, to be used for projects or events sponsored by the center. Funds have been used to buy tables for the bridge group, venetian blinds for the center office and a coffeemaker for the center's lounge.

Laurie Matthews, president of the committee, says, "We are a not a typical consignment store. When an artist joins the committee, she is approved to contribute a limited and specific type of her handiwork."

Each artist prices her own work and keeps 90 percent of the sale price, with 10 percent coming back to the committee treasury. If an item does not sell within four months, it must be taken out of the store. That way the shop always has new merchandise to display.

The Willows Boutique started in 1979 when a group of senior women asked to be given an opportunity to display and sell their handiwork monthly. The women, all dependent on their small social security allotment, were looking to augment their income. They brought one item monthly to the center on a day designated "Boutique Day." Many of the early items consisted of potholders, embroidered pillowcases and dishtowels.

Today one can find intricate beaded jewelry, evening bags with crewel designs and overstuffed floral pillows. In the past, the committee has included a few male artisans as well. Their woodcarvings and redwood planters sold quickly.

The boutique features holiday-themed items at the appropriate times, such as handcrafted Christmas ornaments, Easter baskets and Halloween place mats. In the early fall, there's a back-to-school theme, including a number of published children books from a committee member.

Carolyn Mosby, supervisor of the senior center, says, "The members of the boutique committee are all very dedicated in making their enterprise a success. They maintain the store hours faithfully and they have been a contributing source to the success we enjoy at the Willows Senior and Community Center."

The Willows Senior Center boutique, 2175 Lincoln Ave., is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information about the boutique committee, contact Laurie Mathews at 408.258.5725.