Fashion expert puts her knowledge to work at Marysville shop

MARYSVILLE — Patricia Schoonmaker worried about how she'd stay in the clothing industry when she lost her job as a fashion designer in August.

Her company moved from Seattle to North Carolina, leaving her to navigate an economy where even the jobs you don't want are hard to come by.

“There are not a lot of design jobs right now,” she said.

But Schoonmaker also knew there aren't many specialty clothing shops in north Snohomish County, where she lives with her husband, Eric.

Just like that — as simple as making lemons into lemonade — she's a business owner.

Schoonmaker opened Trusty Threads, a vintage clothing store in Marysville, two weeks ago.

The storefront on Fourth Street is a lone bright spot on an otherwise quiet block. Neighbors hope that the little shop is an omen, signaling that businesses are going to start moving in — not out — in the next few months.

Past the glowing display window, Schoonmaker sorts through potential merchandise and chats with customers. She's looking for gently used, fashionable items to add to her racks; the labels inside the collars don't matter much to her.

Eric Schoonmaker helps out around the shop when he can, the self-proclaimed “janitor-slash-negotiator.”

He didn't bat an eyelid when his wife told him two months ago she wanted to go into business for herself.

“Well, she can go manage a store for somebody, or we can try to put our smarts to good use,” he said. “We're going for it, and we're not looking back.”

The couple used savings and a small loan to open the store. They tried to keep costs low by acquiring used or donated display fixtures.

“I've always been a bargain hunter,” Patricia Schoonmaker said.

Starting a business isn't such an uncommon move for laid-off workers, according to data culled by the Small Business Association. The national unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent last week, its highest point since 1982.

Nine percent of job seekers who found work in the second quarter of this year ended up starting a business, according to data from Challenger Gray & Christmas' Job Market Index. That's about twice the percentage for the same demographic in the outplacement firm's second-quarter report from 2008.

Schoonmaker, who looks a little like the image of Marilyn Monroe hanging on one of the shop's baby blue walls, said creating the right space for Trusty Threads was the most daunting step.

The concrete floors and brick walls gave off the vintage vibe she sought, but the building was nearly deserted when the Schoonmakers signed a lease.

Since then, they've learned tenants are taking up other spaces in the long, gray building.

“I think a lot of businesses are starting to open back up,” Schoonmaker said.

That's hopeful for one of the Schoonmakers' long-term plans: hosting summer concerts in the parking lot next to their shop.





Read Amy Rolph's small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.

If you go:

Visit Trusty Threads at 1520 Fourth St. in Marysville or online at www.trustythreads.com.