We've made a lot of fond memories at our cozy Corvallis workshop. So many shoes were designed and built here, several school field trips have come through to see our elves at work and we'll never forget the time Gwen accidentally set fire to a Phoenix boot (the irony was not lost on us).
Unfortunately, "cozy" is the right word to describe our current shop because we are quickly outgrowing the space. Our local customers have noticed our showroom getting smaller and smaller as we've made room for more offices and sewing stations. Square footage and desk space are hot commodities among our elves and any attempt to move the paper cutter to a new table inevitably leads to tension. This location has served us well for ten years, but now we're bursting at the seams.
Soft Star co-owners Tricia and Larkin saw this problem coming long ago, and for the past couple years they have been on the lookout for a bigger workshop space. They searched dozens of sites before finally finding one that meets all of their criteria, including close proximity to our current Corvallis location and a healthy work environment for our employees.
The new Soft Star workshop in it's current state, and an architect's rendition of the final product.
Our new workshop will be located a few miles down the road in the neighboring town of Philomath, Oregon (pronounced fil-O-meth). The structure is known locally as "the old rainbow building" and has a long history in our community, first as a roller skating rink in the 1950s and later as a flea market. It is a beautiful building that has sadly become abandoned and fallen into disarray over the past several years. No worries, though, because we're fixing it up!
Historic photo of roller skating teams taken from what will become the new Soft Star workshop. Courtesy of Benton County Historical Society.
The building is currently under construction and will be fully restored and outfitted to accommodate the new Soft Star workshop. Our staff has made frequent trips to check out the progress and occasionally lend a helping hand.
Recently, we closed our shop for a day so all of our elves could head over to the site to help with the work. We hammered and scraped and pried, but the big project that day was to raise the roof several feet! This was done by operating in sync over a dozen jacks that were positioned around the walls. Fortunately, we had a camera rolling...
We're very excited to see our new space come together. There is still a lot of work to be done and we're forecasting spring 2016 as the finish date. At that time, we'll celebrate with our grand opening! If you happen to be in the area then we hope you'll come by to check us out.
Related Posts:
- Elf Roots: The Early Days of Soft Star Shoes
- Blast From the Past: A Shoe for All Generations
- Mom and Career Elf