Wealthy Street sees another retailer open its doors today. Woosah Outfitters has relocated to the former home of Wealthy at Charles.
While many in the neighborhood mourned the announcement that Wealthy at Charles, at 738 Wealthy St SE, was ending its long run, its closure was a win-win – with its former owners happy to move into retirement and the building’s new owner excited for what the future holds.
“When I found out that the Wealthy at Charles building was for sale, I immediately had my heart and mind set on it,” said Erica Lang, owner of Woosah Outfitters. “It has been incredible to manifest this dream so soon. I’ll miss my neighbors on Division, but I am really excited to set my roots and grow here on Wealthy.”
Woosah Outfitters opened its doors two and a half years ago on Division Ave., when Lang was fresh out of college. She said Division was the perfect place to start her new business.
“I was fresh out of college and knew that the next step for me was to open a retail shop and studio that functioned as one. While shopping around for spaces, Division was the most affordable and was closely tied to the creative community in Grand Rapids,” she explained.
But she said her goal was always to own a shop with a living space attached, making the Wealthy at Charles location a perfect fit.
Over the past two months, Woosah Outfitter’s new home has undergone a series of renovations to ready the shop for its next phase.
“This space is similar to my last one in that my woodblock print shop/studio is still open to the retail portion of the shop, so customers can still watch me carve new woodcuts and print while they shop,” Lang said. “The retail space of this store is bigger than the last, so we collaborated with our friends Jason Brokema of Mathilde Design Co and Dan Chase of Re.Dwell to create some really unique fixtures and furniture for the shop. It’s all hand crafted and locally made, which makes me smile.”
Along with the reopening, Woosah is also rolling out its winter line, which includes a new line of apparel and plenty more. Lang said it is the store’s biggest product launch to date.
“An entire new line of apparel, hats, beanies, bags such as backpacks, dopp kits, totes and pencil pouches, accessories like stickers, and a few new products like funky house plants and nature inspired candles and incense and even a few books.
“We wanted to feature select products from other brands at this new location to expand what we offer. If you’re shopping for the holidays you’ll have a hard time choosing what to get at Woosah.”
The store’s opening is well timed; it coincides with the annual Uptown Shop Hop, which takes place tonight, Dec. 7, from 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
The store officially celebrates its move with a grand opening on Saturday, Dec. 9, with drinks and treats.
“While our new winter line will be available starting on the seventh, the ninth will be a day for celebrating our big move and all the work that went into making it happen. We hope to see a lot of familiar faces and some new ones too,” Lang said.
Lang said when the weather warms up, she also plans to utilize the building’s adjacent garden space to host community events.
“My hope for this new space is to really utilize the garden attached to the building and bring the community together. It’s my dream to convert an Airstream or camper into a cafe for the garden. I want to create a very relaxed, casual meeting place for friends to come together and connect,” she said.
Woosah Outfitters will operate seven days a week. Monday – Friday 12 p.m. – 7 p.m., Saturday 11 p.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Facebook Comments