With her first year of business in downtown Centralia officially in the books, Farm + Flourish co-owner Alliyah Perry celebrated with a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony provided by the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Oct. 11.
Perry opened Farm + Flourish to give local farmers an outlet to both prepare and sell what they grow year-round, but especially during the winter months when the Twin Cities’ farmers markets aren’t open.
Now, she has fresh fruit and produce, eggs, dairy products, spices and herb mixes, coffee, roasted nuts, sauces and more, all supplied by almost 100 different local farmers and producers from Lewis County and the surrounding areas.
“Although, not all of them have stock here at the same time,” Perry added. “Some of them, they only make one thing, so it’s just one item from one business, but we’ve had a ton of different things in here … If there are any small businesses here in
Lewis County, or anywhere, that would like to sell anything here, contact me.”
Additionally, each item on Farm + Flourish’s shelves includes the location where it was grown or produced.
While she has a plethora of local connections already, Perry invited other local farmers and producers to bring in products they want to sell.
“We always have something different each week, literally. We are always bringing in new stuff,” Perry said. “We’re also thinking about possibly moving to a bigger space.”
The business is currently located in the space that once housed the Santa Lucia Cafe, 202C S. Tower Ave., on the southeast corner of the intersection of East Locust Street and South Tower Avenue.
Over the past year, Perry, along with the help of her family and friends, has renovated the space into Farm + Flourish and continues to do so. With many perishable items, adding refrigeration was key, and the business now has nine commercial fridges filled with products.
“Having nine fridges in this old building, it’s got me a little worried, but we’re fine so far,” Perry said.
Farm + Flourish also has a commercial kitchen space, but it is currently closed off as a 72-square-foot walk-in refrigerator is being installed thanks to state grant funding.
“We’re either going to have to move to a bigger space or completely take out the commercial kitchen for the space,” Perry said. “But we’re going to have to make some big changes as we’re growing so much.”
Should Perry decide to move the business, she intends on remaining in downtown Centralia. Current hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Local farmers and producers interested in selling their products at Farm + Flourish can contact Perry at farmnflourish@gmail.com. For more information or to message the business, visit the Farm + Flourish Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/59an5frk or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/farmnflourish/.
For those interested in donating to help support Perry and Farm + Flourish, a crowdfunding campaign for the business that can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/383f5dxa.
