Eddi Nelson, owner of Kettle Creek in Pe Ell, stands in her shop on Saturday. Nelson sells coffee as well as home decor items.
Eddi Nelson, owner of Kettle Creek in Pe Ell, held a Spring Vintage Market on Friday and Saturday. Nelson sells coffee and home decor items at the shop.
Kettle Creek, Eddi Nelson's coffee and home decor shop in Pe Ell, has become a meeting place for community groups and small events in the last two years. A group of community volunteers met there on Saturday.
Nearly two years ago, Eddi Nelson opened Kettle Creek, a coffee and home decor shop in Pe Ell.
The shop has also become a meeting place for community groups and small parties, like baby showers, in the town.
On Saturday a group of volunteer citizens met at her shop prior to going door-to-door to ask residents about an income survey.
She said many people have told her the shop is exactly what the town needed.
Nelson, 38, first got into the coffee business when she worked as a barista in Centralia in her early 20s. After taking a break from work to start a family she decided to open her own drive-through stand in Pe Ell in 2003, the Coffee Cabin.
She didn’t really think about moving out of her stand, but heard the owner of the building that now houses Kettle Creek was interested in selling. About one month later the two parties were filling out paperwork.
“This kind of just fell in my lap, this building,” Nelson said.
In the 1950s Nelson’s great aunt actually owned the building.
“It’s family history,” Nelson said.
She decided to name the shop something different from her former stand. Nelson is often asked why she chose the name Kettle Creek.
“I have no idea,” she said with a laugh, but added that the Kettle part ties into the coffee side of the shop. A creek also used to run behind the building many years ago.
To make her business successful, Nelson knew she needed more than just coffee, so she got some vendors of handmade goods to fill her shop.
Items include candles, signs and other home decor. A total of seven different vendors sell goods in Kettle Creek. Nelson also refinishes furniture that she sells in her shop.
She also holds open house markets throughout the year; she held her Spring Vintage Market on Friday and Saturday, featuring new items from the store’s vendors.
Nelson said she knew the business was going to be successful because she already had the coffee stand and said locals are always looking for gifts and other items her shop offers.
But it’s not just locals stopping in. Visitors from Australia to Italy have stopped in the shop.
“It is amazing where people come from,” Nelson said, who grew up in Pe Ell.
She said many of the visitors from further away tell her they found Pe Ell because they’re traveling the back roads and staying off of Interstate 5.
The small town is also home to Evey’s Cafe & Lounge. Nelson said she didn’t want to compete with the restaurant, so she doesn’t do food except for some special occasions.
Nelson runs Kettle Creek herself with part-time help on Sundays.
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The Chronicle is featuring a local business in every edition this year. Contact Editor Eric Schwartz at (360) 807-8224 or eschwartz@chronline.com to nominate a business for coverage.
