Release Date: March 16, 2018
Adorn and Adornables - It's the personal touch!
A downtown mainstay, Adorn (and Adornables) is a downtown Longmont retail “institution.” After over eleven years, the gift boutique and children’s specialty store continues to thrive, largely due to a dedicated customer base that grows a little every year. Yes, part of that growth is attributable to a solid reputation of creating a “just so” customer experience. But it’s also because owner Sharald Church puts just as much care into selecting what she brings to the store as you do when you’re looking for that unique piece of jewelry, rare treasure, or a memorable keepsake.
Just off Main Street at 661 Fourth Street, Longmont, the store’s muted pastel walls and hardwood floors create a comfortable atmosphere that’s as soft and warm as a pair of favorite pajamas right out of the dryer. It’s the place you’d choose to find a special something for a neighborhood friend or faraway family that they wouldn’t – or couldn’t – find elsewhere. Something that maybe tells a story about you. Or them. Or both.
Read on to learn more about what makes Adorn a singular experience each and every time you come in, how Sharald chooses her inventory, and why she loves being downtown.
Adorn and Adornables have been downtime for some time. Even won some awards and recognition. If downtown had “anchor stores,” you would certainly qualify. What is it about downtown that’s made it a special place for Adorn and Adornables?
Sharald: Downtown Longmont has a great community sense. Downtown has a community sense that is different from the rest of Longmont. Because of that community embrace, I’ve been able to create long-lasting relationships with customers. I know their families. But then we get a few new people in every day. It still has a neighborhood feel. It’s a walking community.
Talk about the evolution of your store.
Sharald: We moved here from Seattle. We were missing that neighborhood feel within a town, within a city. I’d worked at the Garden Gift Shop. And I worked with Tamar Hendricks of Crackpots and I had a good idea of what it felt like down here. But starting a store just kind of fell into my lap when space became available. We work hard at what I want to put in here. We have 150 vendors in the shop. We’re always changing and things are never the same in the store, week to week.
So you can’t walk into the same Adorn twice?
Sharald: Right. We change things really fast. We couldn’t keep our regulars if we didn’t change it up a lot. We’re constantly changing and evolving. To do that, we manage what we put in here with great care. We go a lot of places though to find new stuff. We buy local all the time, but we are selective, and it’s all part of a process.
What items get the most notice?
Sharald: Anything locally made that is professionally created and packaged. People are always looking for local Colorado art. Jewelry is a big deal for us. Always jewelry.
What feedback do you get from your clientele?
Sharald: We try to have this personal touch. People trust what we’re selling. We’re not pushy. We’re truthful. We explain what our best sellers are. Believe it or not, we get a lot of letters written to us. Personal letters. It’s flattering.
Special presents from parents to children in the age of electronics are sometimes hard to come by. What should parents know about the children’s items you have at Adornables?
Sharald: We go with sustainable and eco-friendly toys and children’s items here. We have a lot of educational and keepsake things that kids will have forever. You won’t find phone cases or things like that here. We do a lot of fair trade stuff as well. We have nostalgic, yet contemporary, toys as well.
What makes shopping at Adornables a unique, memorable experience? What keeps those return customers coming back?
Sharald: We try to decorate and display in a way that’s inviting, inspiring, and creative. We want to inspire people to do different things. Maybe create something themselves. We try to feed all the senses. We hear all the time how good it smells in here. Visually, it’s always stimulating. And we naturally always want people to touch things. Try things out. It’s a more authentic experience.
What would newcomers most need to know about Adorn and Adornables?
Sharald: We are off the beaten path. We’re strong on being a little more approachable in terms of walkability. We watch our inventory and make sure we don’t duplicate things nearby. We like having things that are just here. Just Adorn and Adornables.
Since January 2017, Adorn and Adornables are now located in the same storefront at 661 Fourth Street in downtown Longmont.
Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sundays 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Reach them at (303) 651-6933 or sharald@mac.com.