The Home Stretch moves downtown

Kitchen store, carpet store share building

MOSES LAKE - Melissa Sloan found a new downtown location for her kitchen store just in time.

Sloan learned this summer she had only a month to find a new place for her business called The Home Stretch.

The business was previously located on Valley Road in Moses Lake. Sloan said she leased the Valley Road location from a stamp store owner, who decided to close. The closure meant Sloan's lease ended.

At the time, Sloan said she was wondering if she would have to sell her merchandise online if she couldn't find a new location.

There just weren't many places to rent in Moses Lake, Sloan realized.

So Sloan talked about her dilemma to her children's kindergarten teacher, who is a relative to a downtown carpet store owner, she explained.

The word eventually reached the people who operate Skaug Brothers Carpet One on Third Avenue in Moses Lake, Sloan said.

Talks ensued and Sloan's The Home Stretch and Skaug Brothers decided to share the building.

Sloan recently moved into the empty half of the carpet store. She now calls the place home and agreed the two businesses' offerings compliment each other.

"I couldn't have asked for better," she said. "If I had been looking, I wouldn't have found this place. I really lucked out, honestly."

The square footage of the old store and new store appear to be identical. There's room to place merchandise on carpeted shelves along the windows.

"Plus, it smells like new carpet," she noted.

Sloan and her husband Don have owned the business since 1997. Their children, Nolan, 9, and Natalie, 6, have spent time at the store, she added.

The store's merchandise hasn't changed since the move. Some of the items on hand include tabletop pepper grinders, Le Creuset stoneware, Oxo measuring cups, can openers, teaspoons, cookbooks, magazines and cookie cutters. Thanksgiving baking items are starting to arrive at the store, she added.

Couples can also register at the store for wedding gifts.

It's not clear if the business' new location attracted extra customers, but Sloan said people from outlying areas buying carpet at Skaug's discovered her store.

So she's seeing customers she likely wouldn't have seen on Valley Road, she said.

"It will be neat to see what happens during the holiday season," Sloan noted.

The Home Stretch's hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Skaug's hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, she said.