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Retail Notebook: Bunny spawned business
Retailer found a job to love in lavender 'luvies'
By CRAIG HARRIS
P-I REPORTER
This is a story about a restless little girl, a hand-stitched bunny and lavender.
The unlikely triumvirate is the origin of Lavender Luvies, a boutique in upper Queen Anne where owner Gina Jordan sells nearly everything and anything lavender in a quaint, 1,400-square-foot shop with hardwood floors.
Gina Jordan works on a bunny
Zoom Scott Eklund / P-I
Gina Jordan works on a bunny at her store, Lavender Luvies. The business had its beginnings in a bunny Jordan made to soothe her daughter at naptime.
Jordan, who previously worked in grocery stores and sold skin-care products, said she never would have launched a small lavender-based business if not for her daughter Hannah's need for a "luvie."
That's the moniker day care workers gave to blankets or stuffed animals that kids would snuggle with at naptime.
Wanting to use aromatherapy and be a bit different, Jordon hand-stitched a lavender bunny, which she said calmed her daughter.
"Bears are so typical. So, I made a bunny. ... That was kind of fun, and I thought I could sell these," Jordan said. "I thought it would be cool to make a living."
After making that first bunny in 2002, Jordan said, she would stitch other rabbits together while her young son, Liam, napped as she made calls to sell Burt's Bees products.
After stockpiling a cadre of lavender bunnies, Jordan began selling them the following year at Pike Place Market.
She said customers began requesting lavender neck warmers, pillows and sachets, which she now sells at Lavender Luvies. Her husband, Frederick, then suggested selling lavender stress balls.
With business growing, Jordan decided last fall to open a retail store, and she and her husband began scouting for locations.
After driving through upper Queen Anne, they spotted a vacant building. Inside, the walls were already painted lavender.
"That was a sign," Jordan said with a laugh. "So, I knew it was the thing to do."
The store, which is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, sells myriad lavender products including dish soap, chocolate bars, scarves and bears, which have microwavable pouches that warm the stuffed animals. And, of course, there are lavender rabbits.
Jordan, who has a Singer sewing machine right next to the cash register, still makes many of the products, and she gets sewing help from her husband and from her mother, Nancy Cranston.
She also sells artwork from an aunt, and some of the products are displayed on family heirlooms, including a 1935 trunk from her grandmother.
Gina Jordan
Zoom Scott Eklund / P-I
Gina Jordan holds some of her lavender "luvies" in her upper Queen Anne store.
Some of the few items without lavender are hats for girls and women, and Jordan jokes that she hasn't found a way to place lavender in those items -- yet.
Since the shop opened in October, Jordan said, business has been good, but she declined to disclose sales figures.
Joan Webster, president of the Upper Queen Anne Merchants Association, said Lavender Luvies has been a welcome addition to the neighborhood.
Webster said she is impressed that a vendor who got her start at Pike Place Market could make the transition to a retail store.
"There's a variety of what she offers. There is nothing like it on the (neighborhood) street," Webster said.
Jordan said that while her store has had success, she still has a presence at the Market, where she sells on Sundays and has a worker there most other days.
"It's gone from a table full of bunnies at the market. It sort of developed. ... It's about doing what you love."
IF YOU GO
Lavender Luvies
1622 Queen Anne Ave. N.
HOURS: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday
CONTACT: 206-284-2212
lavenderluvies.com
P-I reporter Craig Harris can be reached at 206-448-8138 or craigharris@seattlepi.com.
December 06, 2006
Lavender Luvies
A Seattle mom's love for lavender inspires a new shop
By Kathy Schultz
NWsource shopping columnist
Lavender
KATHY SCHULTZ
It all started with a bunny. Lavender Luvies owner Gina Jordan made a bunny filled with lavender for her daughter's nap-time. The comforting creature was nicknamed a "Luvie." As the bunnies multiplied, Jordan sold them at Pike Place Market and conceived of dozens of other uses for the fragrant and soothing herb. The soft-spoken and talented proprietress now fills her new shop on top of Queen Anne with all things lavender.
The gift haven has everything from edible lavender goodies to sleep aids, bath and body products and candles. One of her top sellers is the squishable lavender stress ball ($6). "Everyone from nurses to teachers to executives loves these," says Jordan. Smush these fragrant fabric-covered balls filled with lavender to relieve tension. Also popular are eye pillows filled with lavender ($20), lavender-filled neck and shoulder bags that can be heated up in the microwave ($30), and pretty organza scarves with beaded fringe filled with just a bit of lavender hiding in the folds of the fabric ($33.95).
More info
* Lavender Luvies
Related info
* Local lavender farms
You'll also find Dream Pillows ($40), great napping pillows filled with lavender and mugwort (the latter is said to be a dream enhancer); lavender linen spray ($6.50); handmade and hand-painted pottery featuring lavender sprigs for a reasonable $15 to $35; body lotions in three scents including lavender, lavender and nutmeg, and lavender and sage ($10.95); and lavender soy candles in all three scents plus a special holiday scent of anise and lavender ($8.95). If your gift recipients prefer consumables, buy them locally made Coco Chai lavender truffles by Ivy Chan (two for $4.25), or lavender hot chocolate mix, lavender biscotti and lavender honey. Can't decide? Jordan has some ready-made gift bags filled with a French lavender sachet, linen spray, air freshener, and a stress ball in a pretty organza bag for $16.50.
French and local bulk lavender is also available for cooking and projects ($1.05 to $1.50 per ounce).
If you have a shop, sale, event or great product tip you'd like to share, E-mail seattleshopping@nwsource.com.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company
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