Wood turner opens flagship store, cafe, kids play space in Clinton

Published 2:33 pm Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Janae Cameron can point out a long list of benefits from behind the coffee counter at her new store, cafe and children’s play space in Clinton.

Yes, Clinton.

Cameron is spinning off from her and husband Kelly Cameron’s successful woodturning company, Turnco Wood Goods, to open a new business: Make Whidbey. The shop opens May 22 and has everything an emerging shop owner could want, from a water view and high traffic visibility to ample parking.

How the business will fare is an unknown because she is well aware of the area’s commercial struggles in recent years. But Cameron has full confidence Make Whidbey will succeed because of her past experience building the wood goods company up and relocating from Vancouver, B.C. to their workshop in Clinton.

Picking Clinton over the downtown charm of Langley or the bustling commerce of Freeland was a simple choice for Janae Cameron, who is running the new venture independently from her husband.

“This is where I’m from,” she said in the new store occupying the old Dodge Building across from Cozy’s on Highway 525. “We’re a working-class family from Clinton.”

The 1,275-square-foot space will serve three distinct but connected functions, she said.

First, it is Turnco Wood Goods’ flagship store after being featured in dozens of shops across the country, internationally and most recently on South Whidbey.

Second, the children’s crafting area — dubbed Make and Take by Cameron — allows youngsters a place to color and create to their hearts’ content.

Finally, Clinton again has a morning gathering place to enjoy some drip coffee and a pastry (or two, or three) from The Essential Baking Company in Seattle.

“The point is to have people come often,” Cameron said.

Outside in the parking lot adjacent to the highway sits the Lunch Box. Cameron’s small trailer has made the rounds at farmers markets in past seasons and now gets rented to would-be food truck chefs who don’t have a truck but want to sell their food. It won’t be part of the Make Whidbey business, but rather is meant to serve as attraction to passing motorists. 

Her plan is to have it out front most weekends, starting with this Friday, to catch the ferry crowd with an assortment of grab-and-go foods like breakfast sandwiches or biscuits and gravy provided by one of several vendors. She plans on focusing her time inside the main store.

Stephanie Cook, owner of Cozy’s Roadhouse just across the street, said she was excited to see another cafe open. Having met with Cameron and had her as a customer, Cook said Make Whidbey was poised for success.

“We’ve had cafes down here before but for one reason or another they didn’t succeed, usually for personal reasons,” Cook said.

Traffic speeding up the highway from the ferry has long been derided as both a source of opportunity and challenge for businesses in Clinton. Cook, whose restaurant and lounge is often packed on the weekend and some weekday evenings, said a business owner has to make their location a destination for patrons.

“They actually have to want to go to your place,” she said. “This new business is going to be a destination.”

The Make and Take children’s area will have a per-hour charge of $5 and includes a handful of activities from a menu. Coloring, wool-stuffed doll-making, small wooden people creations are all available from the menu.

Most of the play space that occupies the back of the shop has been kid tested by Cameron’s two children, 4 and 2 years old. During an interview Monday, her children played and sang and colored, demonstrating that the area is suitable for children.

“They’ve spent a lot of time here,” Cameron said as her daughter and son played tag and hide and seek.

She knows that people say there are no children or young families on South Whidbey. But when she registered her daughter for kindergarten, she met other young families who all said the same thing: there is nowhere to spend time with their children indoors and not at home on the South End.

“The whole idea is it’s something you do with your child,” Cameron said. “It’s not a drop off.”

Drip coffee and pastries won’t be more than a couple of dollars. Cameron said she priced everything to be affordable and accessible.

“I’m cost conscious because we’re a young family,” she said.

Make Whidbey grand opening

A shop featuring Turnco Wood Goods that also functions as a cafe and children’s crafting space opens in Clinton on Friday, May 22.

Make Whidbey, the idea spawned from Janae Cameron’s entrepreneurial spirit, will offer Mukilteo Coffee, pastries and other light fare six days a week.

What: Make Whidbey grand opening

When: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 22, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24.

Where: 8898 Highway 525, Clinton — the north side of the road at the intersection of the highway with Frost Avenue, near Cozy’s Roadhouse.