Love & Lumber expands to new location

MOSES LAKE — Walking into Love & Lumber in downtown Moses Lake is a bit like walking back in time to 1975.

Everything is in earth tones, subdued shades of brown, burnt umber, ripe-wheat gold and olive, with some macrame hanging on the wall and an undefinable but heady and intoxicating scent — a melange of loose-leaf tea, candles, soap and simple hominess — wafts through the air amidst the clothes and toiletries on sale.

There’s even a prom dress of bark, leaves and flowers on display, made by Rebecca Sterner of Rue and Sage. It oddly seems appropriate, even perfect, for the space.

“I love being downtown. I love having a storefront,” said Love & Lumber owner Jenna Hildebrand. “Here, people can drive by and see. It’s so nice, people walk by and go, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were here.’”

The shop wasn’t always in this storefront at 121 W. Third Avenue between Edward Jones and Emperor Azteca restaurant. Hildebrand started Love & Lumber in late 2020, during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a space deep inside the Smith Martin Building at the corner of Third Avenue and Division Street in downtown Moses Lake, where she got a taste of business and did well enough to be able to move into this new space last November.

Hildebrand said she never intended to go into business. Originally, she pursued pre-med studies at Central Washington University, dropped out to raise her kids, then went back to school a few years ago to finish.

But then, when the pandemic hit, Hildebrand said she had to drop out again. To help her kids study when the schools closed and instruction went online. Which meant she had to do a lot of studying herself.

“I spent a lot of time studying over at Mason's Coffee and they became my community over there. I spent almost every day there studying,” Hildebrand said.

To help keep her busy, Hildebrand said she decided to start selling some of the jewelry she makes — bracelets, mainly, from wooden beads on which she would leave a small love note or inspirational quote, which is where the name Love & Lumber comes from.

“My jewelry is kind of a reflection of what I like and who I am,” she said.

Hildebrand said she was encouraged to rent a space in the Smith Martin Building, and things just kind of moved from there.

“Moses Lake showed up and supported me so well and I outgrew it,” she said.

Love & Lumber is still the boutique it started out as in the first location, though it's less blue and gray and more brown and olive. But past the clothes and the homemade jewelry, Hildebrand also has bigger plans for her storefront. She hosts yoga classes three days a week and has just finished having new plumbing installed so she can open a teahouse as well.

“It's something different that we want to offer downtown,” Hildebrand said. “We've got lots of coffee, you know, I wanted to do something different.”

Hildebrand sells loose leaf teas from Oregon-based tea companies Smith Teamaker and Full Leaf Tea Co., and plans to allow customers to mix and match loose leaf teas and create flavors of their own.

She’s also planning on offering sparkling tea flights — tea brewed slowly and then carbonated — and even tea-infused mimosa flights with indoor and outdoor seating. Hildebrand said the tea room is set to open on March 19.

“I just want to be hospitable,” Hildebrand said. “I really love to be hospitable.”

Hildebrand sees Love & Lumber as her creative outlet and one where serving tea and hosting yoga goes perfectly with the aesthetics of her store and what she sells.

“I feel like this whole space is a space for wellness,” she said.

She also said that while it was a risk starting a business in the middle of a pandemic, she wasn’t afraid to fail, and that made it fairly easy to go into business during a difficult time.

“I got into it just to have fun. And for it to be a creative outlet for myself,” she said. “And it turned into something really wonderful.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com