A “made locally” store is stocked with much of all we make here. In a right world, there would be one of these stores in every town and village.
In a righteous world, there would be more than one store and kiosk, differentiated in concept (home goods, clothing, food, art and apothecary), as the local production of mutually supporting artisans displaced the cheap importation of mass manufactures.
Made local stores incubate local brands emerging from local garages and kitchens, producing local culture and sense of place, paying local sales tax and circulating local dollars in an upwardly spinning trajectory of green, blue, pink and golden prosperity.
Blinking that dizzy vision out of my eyes, I see that we now have two of these stores. One is in Santa Rosa, and one is in Novato. And for that give credit to Willow Fish Peterson, owner and steward of Made Local Marketplace. For this edition of the column, I visited the second store, newly opened in Novato, at the corner of Grant and Machin.
With a high window carved out from a former monumental bank, it is at once classical and rustic, in the farm and antique style of Fish Peterson’s furnishing and display. Divided into small departments, the store has sections for local home goods, clothing, art, apothecary, dry good provisions, jewelry, beer and wine.
Rather than reproduce the content of her successful Santa Rosa store (and stretch the concept of local to regionality), Fish Peterson reached out to small producers in her new Marin neighborhood, which now constitute 40 of the 90 local artists and makers represented in her store.
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Willow, what is your connection to Marin?
Willow Fish Peterson: My husband is from Marin.
You’re a growing success. Why do people like your stores?
People like that they can come in and find a truly unique gift—without having to do that online thing we do for convenience but not for joy. It’s a joyful experience to shop at one of our stores. You can touch and smell things, turn them over and feel their worth in your own two hands.
I understand that your store employees are some of the local makers represented here. Is it true that they know the local names and stories of all the producers in the shop?
Yes (laughing).
That is special, and distinctly different about the Made Local store—you know the names of the lives you touch. Let me choose one product at random… That display of local purses caught my eye; they look as fine as anything you would see at Coach.
That’s Ann Victor, and Ann Victor is her label (laughing). She’s been making them for a long time and has a closet full of them, but this is her first time selling them—and they are just flying off the shelf.
Besides the heart, I’m interested in the numbers. What is the deal you offer your makers?
All the information is on our website, (as well as the) application to apply. We offer makers a 50/50 split. It is consignment based, and they are paid at the end of every month. At the end of the month, I get to write 170 local checks.
Learn more: The new Novato Made Local store is at 881 Grant Ave. The Santa Rosa store is at 2421 Magowan Dr. Visit their website at madelocalmarketplace.com. Shop their ever popular local cornucopia gift baskets there. To hear Fish Peterson’s rippling laugh, visit the store or download the podcast of our 2022 interview, ‘Sonoma County: A Community Portrait,’ episode 14.
