By Brenna Wiegand
Suzie Couraud was sitting in her shop when she received probably one of the most surreal surprises of her life.
“I’d just gotten back from a couple weeks in London and was experiencing jet lag,” Couraud said. “I was sitting in the shop and in came this group of people carrying a bunch of balloons. It was kind of like Publishers Clearing House.”
Couraud found out that is how the Silverton Chamber of Commerce bestows its annual awards – in this case, Business of the Year for Pomegranate, her Silverton boutique.
Rosie Green, owner of AmeriTitle in Silverton, says Couraud has put her all into customers, fellow business owners and the community-at-large since opening in November 2007.
“Suzie has repeatedly demonstrated the power of being supportive and collaborative with other downtown businesses as opposed to competitive,” Green said. “She selflessly supports and promotes Silverton.”
Couraud usually ends transactions with “Thank you for shopping locally.”
“Suzie has been great at promoting working together as a business community to make an impact,” said Stacy Palmer, executive director of the chamber.
“She hunts for local products; the display she created at The Oregon Garden Resort (in November) is a good example; it highlighted a number of different businesses.”
Another example is the beautiful pomegranate on canvas visitors see immediately when entering the boutique. Pomegranate had been open a couple of years when local artist Eliza Torlyn showed her a woodblock print she had done of a pomegranate.
By the time the piece of artwork was ready to hang, Couraud had enlisted the local services of a graphite designer, sign maker and framer.
Couraud, her husband John Wayland, and daughters Alexandra and Ashley moved to Silverton in 2006.
“We came here for lunch one day and went to the falls and everything,” Couraud said. “We loved it and knew we had to be here.”
Prior to that, Couraud worked at The Arrangement, one of Portland’s top retail gift stores.
“I just worked there on Sundays,” she said. “I was a homemaker and it was my day to get away from the kids.” Storeowner Sue Mautz became a mentor.
“It was my ‘fun job’ – and now look at me,” Couraud said.
“When you walk into her store you feel warmly welcomed,” Green said. “You always know you can dash out the door and stop by Pomegranate for that last-minute birthday, wedding or friend gift. I have never been let down and always find that perfect something in a good range of prices.”
Green said Couraud is able to “connect all of our small town dots.” She knows who else shopped for the same event and helps the customer choose a gift that will complement those already selected.
“You don’t find this in any other store,” Green said. “It’s fun to arrive at that wedding or party and see all the Pomegranate packages.”
These are generous brown paper bags with lots of orange tissue paper, tied up with baling twine.
“I wanted that ‘old mercantile’ feel,” Couraud said. “I also do the transactions the old-fashioned way, by hand.”
“This store is more than a boutique – it’s a family,” Couraud said.
Couraud said without Valerie Martinson, an employee since the beginning, first as a volunteer, she would not have received the award. By taking care of the shop, Couraud is able to get out and help with projects with other community members.
A Rotary Club member, she is currently at work on a fundraiser for the club: A Taste of the Valley. She is again amazed at people’s willingness to pitch in for a common good, kind of like the night that Pomegranate was started.
“When I put paper over the window and started retailing this space, I became overwhelmed,” Couraud said.
“There were all these boxes…
“A couple of fellow basketball moms, Lisa Roth and Kris Cosgrove offered to help, and they brought a friend – Valerie Martinson,” she said.
Together, they started opening boxes, pricing items and filling the space with attractive displays of the new products.
“Late that night we ripped the paper off the window and ran out to the sidewalk like giddy schoolgirls,” Couraud recalls.
Pomegranate’s grand opening was the following First Friday, Nov. 5. Couraud sent invitations to friends and family.
“It was a brilliant night,” she said.
That introduction to some Silverton moms has rung true for the town as a whole in the years that followed.
“I can’t say enough about this town,” Couraud said. “I’m convinced this is the greatest town on the planet.”
Now, customers return for products such as Baggallini totes, luxurious Pre de Provence products imported from France, Thymes bath and body care items, Vance Kitira candles, Sock It To Me Socks and Blenko hand-blown glass, made in West Virginia since 1893. It’s also handy for the proprietor.
“Most of the stuff you see in the store is stuff I can’t live without,” she said. “Now I don’t have to go to Portland for them.”
