Fitting in with Fitterers
story by Austin Hardebeck & Charlotte Zombro, photos by Chayton Garcia, design by Jade Cupples
Are you bored of your typical shopping locations? If you find yourself thinking yes, then you’re in luck. Recently, an Ellensburg staple reopened with a breath of new life: the Fitterer's building. With so much love and history put behind it and a central downtown location, maybe your curiosity is piqued. With Fitterer’s back up and ready to do business, PULSE takes a deeper dive into the Fitterer’s building and what can be found housed within.
According to the Yakima Herald, the building was named for the Fitterer brothers who once sold furniture there, the business was handed down from generation to generation until Brad Fitterer’s retirement in 2022. For two years, the building remained dormant and unoccupied until it was purchased by Adam and Kelli Rynd, who sought to bring life back into the historic building and downtown Ellensburg as a whole. “[Fitterer’s] was a great vehicle for us to help give back to the community and certainly contribute to the revitalization and enhanced growth of downtown,” says Adam Rynd. Now, sitting on the corner of Fourth and Main are several businesses and offices all operating out of the three story complex. This led to a landmark reopening for the people of Ellensburg as they couldn’t wait to see what was in store. Or more accurately, stores.
The Rynd family is well in-touch with Ellensburg and have a passion for the downtown aesthetic that the town wears with pride. Because of this, they wanted to be sure that the iconic history of the old furniture store remained, despite its new purpose. “I know that there is a lot of fun things that we found as we were doing the remodel project,” says Kelli Rynd. “We found a really cool old safe that was in there…so there's history. There was a shootout at one point downtown, where there's a bullet hole upstairs and one on the second floor. So that was kind of fun, cowboys fighting each other.” This iconic downtown staple is will continue to be revitalized as time goes on thanks to the Rynd’s influence, allowing these new businesses to flourish.
Woody’s Classic Man
Situated right inside the front door on the ground floor is a barbershop unlike any other in Ellensburg. From custom haircuts, to a variety of men’s clothing to a whiskey bar: Woody’s Classic Man has everything a rugged Ellensburg resident is looking for. Owned by the Rynd’s, this location is the fourth of its kind, and the first to come with a whiskey bar in-house for its customers. Woody’s fills a niche that Adam Rynd first noticed was unfulfilled years ago. “My wife and I recognized that there were no men's clothing stores,” says Adam Rynd. “Mills Brothers, which was located in Wenatchee for over 100 years, closed in 2019. So there were no men's clothing stores in all of Central Washington.” While each shop is stocked with plenty of big name brands, such as Pendleton and 7Diamonds, no two Woody’s Classic Man locations are exactly the same. “Each store has a little different kind of lean,” Adam Rynd says. “In this store it's a little bit more of a Western lean. In Chelan, it's a little bit more of a sporty kind of lake lean… our Wenatchee store has a wide variety of things, in addition to a full men's formal program.” A men’s formal program complete with suit rentals is exactly the kind of personalized shopping experience Adam Rynd intends to have in every Woody’s store. “All of our stores are about experiential retail,” says Adam Rynd. “It's not just [to] shop, it's [to] go and experience something.”
Across from the barber chair sits display racks full of handpicked Levi’s and leather jackets with a big name written all over them: Screaming Trees founding drummer, Mark Pickerel. “We also have a special addition with Mark's consignment products,” says Adam Rynd. “Mark has become a friend and a vendor in our space here. He's curated a wonderful collection of vintage clothes.”
With 75 different whiskeys available behind the bar, 30 different cigars for purchase and a barber or two in every location, every Woody’s store is fully stocked for your convenience. “We're trying to create just a very shoppable men's experience,” says Adam Rynd. “Men can come in, find what they're looking for, or maybe what they didn't necessarily know they were looking for, so they can look good, feel great and smell great.”
The Sweet Spot
A candy and ice cream store that not only fills the need for sugar, but also the need for fun with its wall-to-wall shelves of toys. Just across the way from Woody’s is the Rynd’s second business venture: Ellensburg Sweet Spot. Emily Pease, current store lead and CWU student, speaks on everything that Sweet Spot has to offer. “We make dirty sodas and then a pretty awesome swirl freeze ice cream, which is a soft serve ice cream with a bunch of different toppings you can add in,” Pease says. “We have a seating area where we have a lot of kids after school… and then our second floor has a lot of games and Legos on it.”
This is a sister location to several of the Rynd’s other stores throughout Washington state and prides itself on being more than a store. Following a similar business model to Woody’s Classic Man, this is a place for “experiential retail.” Pease concludes, “I love seeing everybody come in and get along no matter what. Something off campus like that, as somebody that goes to Central, I really thought it was unique.”
Sparrow’s Nest
Up the center stairs, on the second floor, is a gift shop and gathering space fittingly named Sparrow’s Nest. The smell of incense leads you past the shopping displays to a meeting area overlooking the foyer of the Fitterer’s building. This is where Greyson and Sparrow Fletcher sell their wares and hold events for the Ellensburg community. Sparrow Fletcher, co-owner and Sparrow’s Nest’s namesake, puts emphasis on the event aspect of the shop. “What the community was telling us [was that] they wanted a place to gather and do fun things,” says Fletcher. Intending to make Ellensburg a more lively place for everyone, Fletcher keeps her ear to the ground to better meet the needs of the locals. “I really listen when people come in and tell me things,” she says. “I had a mom come in and tell me that her teenagers don't have anything to do in town and would I consider doing something for teenagers? We had so much fun doing a game night.”
Fletcher recognizes the unique position of having so many different shops in one place, especially in a town like Ellensburg, where Fitterer’s is the only real building of its kind. “It’s a really unique building. It's being called a mall and we like that,” Fletcher says. “It's a fun mall where someone can come in and do a whole lot of shopping in one space, which is really great and we needed it.”
If you come to Sparrow’s Nest for an event, you’ll stay for the unique products lining the shelves. “I think the best way to describe us is as an eclectic gift store,” says Fletcher. “We have a wide variety of things from home goods, to beauty, to bar and kitchen… You can come in and find one-of-a-kind things here.”
For many, a college town like Ellensburg can become no more than a means to an end, for work or school or some similar evil. Sparrow’s Nest recognizes the importance of having a third place to gather and partake in the community around you. “I think anybody looking for a unique gift should definitely come in and check us out,” Fletcher says. “Anyone who's looking for something to do in our community, something fun and different.”
The Grazing Table on 4th
On the ground floor of the Fitterer’s building sits an assortment of meats, cheeses and gifting goodies all visible from the street. The Grazing Table on 4th is a gourmet market with a focus on charcuterie and local vendors. It is the most recent business to take up residence in the building. After touring the renovated Fitterer’s building, husband and wife duo, Rob and Dana Henning, found a spot perfectly fit for their business. “We were coming back from the farmer's market on a Saturday and saw the ‘for lease’ signs and we couldn't believe it,” says Rob Henning.
“We saw this last space with the beautiful storefront and the perfect ground floor location was still available,” says Dana Henning. “Then we started to think about what would be a great business to go in here.”
For the Hennings, it wasn’t as simple as finding a location and setting up shop. They wanted to ensure they were creating a business that both vendors and shoppers could enjoy. “We began by asking the local farmers market vendors whether they'd be interested in being part of a brick and mortar experience,” says Dana Henning. “Then after we got a number of yeses… we realized there might be potential here.” Dana Henning adds that this became especially clear on the last day of the farmer’s market, when people around her were lamenting the end of the summer and the inability to get the goods they like. This is where The Grazing Table on 4th comes in: The desire for year-round local goods, with a focus on food, specifically charcuterie. Rob Henning says, “We're all about the charcuterie. Helping people put together charcuterie boards, but also helping somebody relax.”
At its core, The Grazing Table is a place dedicated to Ellensburg, the Pacific Northwest and the locals who bring it all together. In addition to offering a 20% discount to locals on Wednesdays, the Hennings also make an effort to bring in vendors and artisans from the area. “Local is at our core,” says Dana Henning. “That's how we started, and that's what we're most proud of.”
As far as the food goes, The Grazing Table on 4th has a variety of goods available for purchase. “We have a beautiful selection of local PNW and international meats and cheeses. Craft sodas, smoked salmons, jams, mustards and pickled goods,” says Dana Henning. “We are ready to help anyone put together a proper spread for home.” They also have a selection of curated giftable items, which the Hennings themselves stand behind for their own home. “The gifts, my wife has impeccable taste,” says Rob Henning. “I have a feeling she keeps bringing things into the store that work best in our home so that I’ll buy them.” The Grazing Table on 4th also offers customizable gift baskets for any occasion, hoping to branch out with even more personalized options in the future. “The next move forward [is] into the bundled items and kits,” says Dana Hennning. “Then to be able to offer probably small catering services to small events... as well as online offerings.”
“So many people live here, they’ve come from different parts of the world,” says Rob Henning. “They’re from here, they’ve traveled abroad… they get these different tastes they want to explore, but they don’t want to have to travel to New York to get some prosciutto.” The Grazing Table on 4th has found its niche in the melting pot of Ellensburg. The wide variety of shoppers provides the business with the perfect environment to thrive within a building that has so much history and so many connections.