By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
The Wren's Nest, opening Saturday in the former Oppenheim building at 202 S. Front St., combines several of former Pamida store manager Morgen Pittman's passions into one business featuring nature-inspired gifts for home and garden.
Pittman, of Hartford, selected Dowagiac over his Van Buren County community, Paw Paw, Watervliet, Coloma and South Haven because of Vickie Phillipson, program director for Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA).
Before Pamida, Pittman spent six years with Target as a human resource manager.
One of the first things a visitor might notice after the scent from aromatherapy products and E. Barrett and Co. potpourri is a "tree" decorated with Iron Elegance glass kugels and witch balls.
Two types of glass balls are blown in Pittman's native Ohio.
Glowing a Chieftain orange are hollowed out salt crystal lamps from Mongolia. Bulbs have also been installed inside chunks of rose and clear quartz.
Quartz lamps merely illuminate, but Pittman said salt crystals are reputed to possess "air purification properties. When the salt warms up, it puts out pure ions, without the breeze. It's supposed to positively treat the air."
Wren's Nest products also include Duncraft bird feeders, Wild Delight bird seed, Bullfrog Light Co. candles, French Garden Creations herbal soaps, nature books by Birdwatcher's Digest and Storey Publishing, Carruth Studio garden sculptures, Country Bee beeswax candles, The Republic of Tea teas, W.S. Badger Co.'s balms and potions, Lucuma's hand-carved Andean gourds, Aurora Glass sun catchers and garden ornaments, wind chimes by Jacob's Musical Chimes and, for a local touch, Straight from the Hart handmade crafts (including Christmas ornaments), wreaths and floral designs by Bobbie Jo Hartline of Dowagiac and fall and holiday wreaths designed by Beth McLoughlin of Dowagiac.
Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5. The Wren's Nest is closed Mondays. The store's telephone number is 782-5127.
Alan Fricke owns Pittman's building. Previous tenant Vickie Wagner of Edwardsburg in October 2003 opened All About Kids, a consignment apparel shop for children.
Phillipson said Wagner was beset by a series of health setbacks that led to her decision to close. Wagner came down with the flu in February, had a lung collapse twice and then infection set in after surgery.