Sallie Bell greets her clientele at the Monkey Puzzle at Orcas Landing.
Sallie Bell’s signature products now have a new home, as she’s moved into the old liquor store “cubicle” adjacent Orcas Village Store.
Monkey Puzzle long occupied a store on North Beach Road, in the building most recently occupied by Kiki’s Café, underneath a huge “Monkey Puzzle” tree.
Sallie Bell moved out of that store in 2002, and since has been selling artwork, antiques and clothing of her own design out of her home near Orcas Landing.
She described the driveway to her home as a 49-foot “hallway” that she transformed into a display room – an indoor/outdoor store.
But when she saw the vacant liquor store she thought of opening a “jewel box” store in the space. She contacted Village Store owner Ron Redman and arranged for his brother Rick to take out the counter and shelving and paint the room.
Sallie left the island on a Wednesday for the San Francisco Spring Show, came back the next Monday, and opened “Monkey Puzzle” in its new location on Friday.
She plans to keep the store open seven days a week during the summer, and to close in the fall when the Orcas Village Store is planning an extensive remodel.
“It’s fun… I’m meeting fascinating people,” says Bell, who expects the store to take off in the summer, once July arrives.
In addition to paintings by Kandis Susol, and Martin Lund’s CDs, Bell sells jewelry and clothing of her own design which is made up by John Baker’s daughter-in-law, Jaime Guinn, in Portland.
The store is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the help of Mary Lou Nichol and Kandis Susol and other of Bell’s friends.
Thursday through Sunday, shoppers will find Bell herself behind the counter at her “jewel box,” as she describes Monkey Puzzle in its current incarnation.
