Made in Moses Lake moves downtown to Third Avenue

MOSES LAKE - Handcrafted items made in and around Moses Lake are now available downtown, after Made in Moses Lake moved from its Broadway Avenue location to a Third Avenue storefront.

Store owners officially celebrated their move over the weekend with a ribbon cutting and other grand opening events.

Made in Moses Lake first opened next to the Eagles lodge on Broadway Avenue in November 2012. A core group of 11 farmers market vendors helped establish the original store as a way for them to keep their business going even after the market season had ended.

Melinda Henry, one of the vendors who helped open the store, said the group eventually wanted to move to a better location - one where they were more visible and where they could get more foot traffic in and out of the store.

Downtown Moses Lake seemed like the logical choice, she said.

The group took ownership of a 3,600 square-foot space next to Fae's Books and Crafts last month. Henry said they spent just over a week making improvements to the space, including knocking down interior walls, re-doing a portion of the floor and painting.

She said they are a lot happier in this new space.

"It's a lot bigger for one," Henry said. The old store was only about 920 square feet.

The new space also has a large room in the back which is used as an art studio.

"We all use it, we each have a space to make our things," she said. "So everything is made right on site."

Henry, who runs Rubbish Rampage, specializes in making license plate signs and her "Redneck wine glasses." The store also carries jewelry, recycled art, hand-blown glass and handcrafted wood items.

Specialty greeting cards and photography prints are also available at the store.

Customers can also custom order wood crafts, vinyl signs and other items if they can't find what they are looking for, Henry said.

In addition to crafts from the core artists, Made in Moses Lake also carries items from other local vendors - such as Cornfusion's specialty popcorn.

Another vendor is also working on bringing in an espresso cart in the coming weeks.

Henry said the only item they don't carry from the old store is Schmiggitty Sauce. However, they do hope to eventually carry it again, she said.

So far, vendors have been pleased with how business has been going at their new location.

"We have had a lot of people who are walking by stop in and look around," Henry said. "It's going great."

Made in Moses Lake is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They are located at 110 E. Third Ave.