Blowing into town
Three-year-old Maggie Jones might not be old enough to help her dad Chris blow glass into art, but she’s turning into quite the sales girl.
“She already sold a $30 pendant,” said Maggie’s mother Jennifer. “She’s my helper.”
Chris and Jennifer Jones of Richland recently opened Fantome Glass, a glassblowing and gift gallery in downtown Kennewick.
The Joneses are hoping a growing interest in glassblowing lessons will translate into a long-standing business.
“That’s what we’re really going to promote,” said Chris Jones, 26, who learned to blow glass about seven years ago from a teacher in Wenatchee.
His shop is behind a viewing window at the back of the store, where visitors can watch him put glass tubing to the flame and transform it into a bottle stopper, wine glass or something else.
“It’s unlimited what you can do,” Chris Jones said.
The couple envisions turning several offices behind the gift shop into studios where artists can create pieces for galleries and students can learn to blow glass.
Lessons cost $500 for 25 hours or $900 for 50 hours.
The shop also sells supplies, including color rods, glass tubing, marble molds, bead supplies and more.
Store shelves and walls are covered with hand-blown wine glasses, jewelry, wall decorations and more.
Chris Jones has put in about 75 hours a week getting the business going, which has been more grueling than the couple imagined it would be.
“The work … is a little more than I expected,” said Jennifer Jones, 24, who leaves the torch work to her husband. “It’s definitely been fun and rewarding.”
The downtown Kennewick location has its pros and cons, they said.
Their neighbors have been friendly and supportive and they like the slower pace of the downtown shopping experience as compared to a big retail center.
And after looking at eight buildings, the one at 120 W. First Ave., had the best layout to fit their needs.
But foot traffic is a little slow downtown and parking spots are hard to come by, they added.
Tim Dalton, executive director of the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership, agreed that parking is an issue. He would like to see First Avenue converted to a two-lane road with angle parking, which would help draw more businesses downtown, he said.
But for now, the addition of the glass shop helps boost the artistic personality of the downtown area.
“We’re really all about … combining the artistic … with the day to day,” Dalton said. “A lot of downtowns struggle to be one or the other. We’re trying to be both.”
The glassblowing shop “brings a special niche, from the artistic standpoint,” he said.
The store is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 6 to 9 p.m. the first Thursday of each month, when free snacks and drinks are available.
“And plenty of art,” Jennifer Jones said.
For more information, call 420-0980 or visit www.fantome glass.com.
from Tri-CityHerald.com, © 2008
