Main Street Marketplace Grand Opening and ribbon-cutting Friday

DAYTON–A new business–stepping into a void created by a longstanding but now defunct establishment–will celebrate taking its place on Our Fair City's Main Street with a ceremony and day-long Grand Opening event Friday.

Main Street Marketplace will be holding a Grand Opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday, May 7, at its 262 E. Main Street Dayton location. The ribbon cutting will be hosted by the Port of Columbia. There will be complimentary refreshments and door prizes throughout the weekend.

The business is a marketplace of multiple vendors and offers items on consignment, picking up the reins of the now closed Village Shoppes, which operated for years just across the street at 245 E. Main. It had a "soft" opening in December, then closed in January for renovations to the historic building, according to proprietor Shane Laib.

The store, which bills itself as offering vintage antiques and an artisan market, reopened last Thursday, April 29, and had "a profitable weekend," Laib said. The Marketplace will be open on a regular basis every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and he hopes to not only entice locals in to browse but also catch weekender traffic. Sundays are by appointment only.

"Our vibe here is really good," Laib says. "We all get along really well and it's turned into something special."

There's almost a dozen vendors renting space in the store, along with a number of consigned items from members of the community. There's Cole's Candy Corner, which offers vintage candies such as Clove and Blackjack gum, Necco wafers, candy cigarettes and bubble gum cigars, licorice pipes and wax fangs.

Steve and Cathy Shochet have a space where Steve's photographic talents are offered, and Cathy's unique jewelry can be perused.

McGovern Residence, proprietors Steven Holt and Derek Jeffries, present vintage Sixties and Seventies items, such as Tupperware and afghans.

Vintage "fun" collectibles are in what Laib calls the "Safe Room," (here the building's safe is built into the wall), antique furniture and et cetera offered by a cooperative of three Walla Wallans, Mary Fleming, Jerlann Sitton and Sandi Kralman.

Sidestep into the "Case" room to discover Judy Czyhold's Metallic Design jewelry and some of Laib's items, including a collection of Willow Tree figurines. Remember those cartoon glasses? There's a nice assortment of those up for sale.

Judi Pilcher's Harmony Gardens and Glass has a corner, as does BJ Farmtiques, by Jim and Bev Starting. Meredith Bretz's Biker B's Bathworks has a booth emanating its fragrant offerings. Joe Cush has some Native American creations available.

The building was originally Hotel Dayton, "M. Von Cadow, Proprietor," Laib says. In renovating the space for the Marketplace, Laib removed metal ceiling panels, exposing the mezzanine windows, and he has re-placed hanging light fixtures in their original places with replicas. "It's a long labor of love," said the self-described preservationist.

"I love history," Laib said. "I'm a preservationist by nature."

Laib has a routine of hitting thrift stores, garage sales and estate sales in the region, looping through Oregon small towns of Athena, Hermiston, Pendleton, over to the TriCities and up through Colfax and Spokane. Maintaining an attractive yet eclectic inventory won't be a problem since he has a full warehouse in Walla Walla from which to draw.

Laib's enterprise was helped by CARES funding, which granted his venture $10,000, some able to be used for the renovation. He received one of 33 grants in the first round.

Doing the renovation, he's worked at being "really frugal" to stretch the funding. He's discovered that under the three layers of flooring was three more layers before the original hardwood floor is reached, something he deemed impractical to try to accomplish.

"Jennie Dickinson has been really helpful to me," Laib said. "She's been a good mentor, such as convincing me that the flooring should be left alone."

Previously, this space was Ski Bluewood's offices, and home to Pacific Power's local office prior to Bluewood.

Laib praised his landlords, Jim and Connie Westergreen, for their support of his preservation efforts with the store. "This old building appeals to me," he said.