Oak Harbor offers fertile ground for small businesses
Pioneer Way, waterfront gaining attention, momentum

by Susan Mador

New businesses are packing Oak Harbor’s Pioneer Way, turning the once-dismal street into a busy, colorful thoroughfare. For years, merchants, residents and officials called for a revitalizing of the town’s downtown shopping area. Plans and programs were announced and faded from notice before ever accomplishing anything. In 2005, a concentrated, organized effort was adopted to energize Pioneer Way and the waterfront area.
Oak Harbor adopted what’s known as the Windjammer Project – a marketing plan conceived by tourism consultant Roger Brooks. The $32 million tourism plan features a streetscape project on Pioneer Way, standard signs, an interpretive center at the trailhead of a marsh near the waterfront, an events center, a hotel, a pier, an outdoor amphitheater and added retail spaces.
Pioneer Way began changing before any major changes began in Whidbey Island’s largest town. New restaurants and a mix of businesses joined antique stores, taverns and attorneys downtown. Today, only one empty storefront can be found in what’s known as the Old Town area.
Pioneer Way stretches from Highway 20 to the gate at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s Seaplane Base where housing, the Navy Exchange, the commissary, fuel farms and Explosive Ordnance Disposal units occupy the chunk of land curving around Oak and Crescent harbors.
A bank, car dealership, pharmacy and a hardware store along with other shops anchor the west end of the street. Several blocks on Pioneer Way’s east end are residential and look across Oak Harbor bay and the town’s marina. In the middle are restaurants, salons and specialty stores that stock everything from kitchenware to cat toys. In past years, these few blocks have held empty slots, but that’s changing.
“We’re seeing things happening downtown,” Jill Schacht said, who grew up in Oak Harbor and now manages Casual House, a women’s clothing shop that her mother, Myrtle Allgire, purchased in 1963. Oak Harbor’s downtown might have seemed dowdy in the past; Schacht is impressed by the energy.
“People are seeing what’s happening and investing in the area,” she said. Three years ago, Casual House remodeled its interior, exterior and retail lines.
Recently, Schacht acquired Fox Pointe, a home interiors store just down the street from Casual House when successful owners had to sell for medical reasons. Schacht said keeping a strong, attractive business vital was important to the business district.
“A number of us have seen the potential of the waterfront for years,” she said.
Established business owners aren’t the only ones excited about Oak Harbor’s prospects. Today’s Dog opened this summer and owner Vicki Fisher is more than satisfied with her store.
“I couldn’t be happier about my locale,” she said about her Pioneer Way address. The store carries all manner of canine items from harnesses and dog beds to clothing and grooming products. Shoppers coming in asking for specific products impress her.
“Whidbey Island residents love their dogs and want the best for them,” Fisher said.
Excitement about Oak Harbor isn’t limited to new business owners. Schacht and others are pleased with the merchants’ group that coordinates activities and funds within the care retail area.
Phil Sikes, president of Harborside Merchants Association, and his wife Lydia opened Whidbey Wild Bird in 2002. The Pioneer Way store stocks everything people interested in attracting and observing birds needs, from seed to birdhouses to identification guides.
Sikes said Harborside Merchants Association promotes the street’s businesses by publicizing events and negotiating advertising rates that benefit the group’s members. Staunch shoppers make Pioneer Way viable, Sikes said “We’ve had great success with our customers,” he said. “Whidbey Island residents are so interested in wild birds.”
When Whidbey Wild Bird opened, the Sikes had a choice of storefronts. Today, only one recently vacated location is available.
“Oak Harbor is an excellent business location,” Sikes said. Since opening, he has developed a dedicated client base that seeks all manner of bird accoutrements and fosters the birding lifestyle across generations. “Seeing people bring in their children (to shop) is great,” Sikes said.
Finding newer shoppers excites other merchants as well.
Coreen Lerch and Kay Coolidge opened Popsies, a candy and ice cream store, this summer. The daughter- and mother-in-law business owners aim to create fond memories for their clients. Sturdy oak furnishings cradle glass containers of individually wrapped candies. Each scoop of ice cream, fudge square, cotton candy pyramid or bag of specially concocted popcorn flavor can be a sweet image. Lerch and Coolidge plan to provide a space where families shopping and teenagers hanging out combine in colorful memories. Since they opened in April, people have asked for specific candies. Many people have said how much Oak Harbor needed a candy store like Popsies. In addition to providing a business many people desired, Coolidge and Lerch give lessons in economics. Candies sold by the pound allow children to spend time staring at bulging candy containers. These careful concoctions can demand concentrated minutes as kids study contents and trickle candies piece by piece into swelling cellophane bags. Such studious attention delights Lerch and Coolidge.
“In 20 years, we want people to say ‘Remember Popsies?’ ” Lerch said.
Other businesses want to join Popsies in become memory holders in family life on Whidbey Island.
People look to spots that hold memories like departed icons Kow Korner, a drive in on Midway Boulevard, and Marstens, a variety store on Pioneer Way.
Now stores like Popsies, Today’s Dog, Paint Your World, Angelo’s Caffé and Zorba’s Restaurant swirl with memories of parties, meals and family shopping.
“Oak Harbor has grown so much,” Schacht said.
Businesses just off Pioneer War are commanding attention. Amour Chevaux, an Aveda-approved salon, is thriving just up the hill from Pioneer Way. The select site crams plenty of style in its compact square footage. Next to Amour Chevaux is the first new retail space in the area for decades.
Chef Scott Fraser and architect Terry LeDesky developed a gourmet restaurant, condominiums and retail areas in a tight footprint. Fraser’s Gourmet Hideaway focuses on steaks and seafood with spectacular recipes, side dishes and service. The building seamlessly blends fresh colors and construction into downtown Oak Harbor’s architecture. A gourmet food store and a specialty bakery occupy the ground floor. Deep galleries provide sheltered spots for dining and taking tea during fine weather. Bayleaf offers sliced-to-order cheeses, deli meats and savory tastes of olives, bread and preserved foods along with discriminating wines and specialty groceries. Elizabeth Graves opened a northern location after many customers begged for an Oak Harbor address at her signature Coupeville store. After picking up a lunch sandwich or ingredients for a tasty meal, shoppers can walk to a specialty bakery for dessert, or a morning break.
Ruth Culbertson operates Nibbles on strict principles of chemistry: reactions between the best butter, sugar, eggs, flour and cream create delectable baked goods. Muffins the size of a newborn’s head and super-sized doughnuts aren’t produced by Culbertson and her staff. Instead, two-inch tartlets, one-bite cupcakes and cookies barely larger than a thumbprint fly from display cases.
Culbertson grew up in a small Alaskan town where everyone baked. Recipes from her German and Norwegian background base her bakery and she tests recipes from all around Europe. In addition to flavor-filled baked goods, Nibbles carries truffles from Chocolate Necessities in Bellingham, 22 kinds of licorice, European sweets and even custom dog cookies. As the weather has cooled, homemade marshmallows and caramels returned to the menu.
Culbertson had been using a commercial kitchen at her church to develop recipes and handle catering. Since opening Nibbles’ storefront Sept. 1, Culbertson and her staff have been busy keeping display cases stocked and planning for Christmas. In early October, making sure she had ample supplies of truffles was a focus of Culbertson’s, especially after one customer spent more than $100 dollars in truffles for co-workers. Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays also grabbed Culbertson’s attention.
Minute cupcakes with icing decorations resembled mummies. Pumpkin and spice drifted about the shop. Sweet, sharp scents of dried fruits hovered around the displays.
“Our mission is for everyone who comes in to leave our store even happier,” Culbertson said about her bright, airy, fragranced store.
She welcomes special orders so people can get exactly what they want, when they want it. While finding tasty but tiny baked goods may be surprising in today’s jumbo-sized world, Culbertson wants Whidbey Island residents to think of Nibbles as a standard, not a novelty. Already, grandmother-granddaughter tea parties have become regular occurrences.
People pick up boxes of treats to take back to work and more people discover the delights of Nibbles’ chemistry every day.
Chemistry in the downtown area continues to evolve. Bayshore Development Company has proposed a 226,000-square-foot commercial and residential project on a 2.49-acre lot between Pioneer Way and Bayshore Drive.
Pioneer Way may be one of the Oak Harbor’s oldest streets but today it’s one of the most creative areas. Merchants, business people and residents believe the energy generated by revived interest in the area will benefit the entire town.

Casual House manager Jill Schacht recently purchased Fox Pointe, a home interiors store located on Pioneer Way in Oak Harbor.






Ruth Culbertson bakes a variety of specialty treats at Nibbles in Oak Harbor. The store has gotten a great response since opening Sept. 1.