Pottery Cellar owner Dawn Whitehill and Joanne Bigelow, of Jojo’s Rustic Remnants, are ready for Small Business Saturday. (Photo by Dennis Hackett)
By Dennis Hackett
Staff writer
WESTFIELD- Ahead of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce’s Shop Small event, the Pottery Cellar is putting up holiday decorations and getting ready for the weekend with events and sales.
Walking into the store, customers are greeted by wreaths and all sorts of holiday decorations, many of which are crafted by Joanne Bigelow, the owner of Jojo’s Rustic Remnants, inside of the Pottery Cellar. Shelves full of beautiful handmade pottery and crafts, along with a café with a full breakfast and lunch menu, welcome shoppers.
Bigelow said she started working on crafts 15 years ago, but it was a passion of hers from when she was a child. “It became an outlet for me for my creativity and it became a stress reliever for me as well. Eventually people started liking what I was doing and they wanted to buy it, which to me is the biggest honor,” she said.
She added that she got into business with Dawn Whitehill, Pottery Cellar’s owner, because they had been friends since high school.
“After she started the Pottery Cellar, she decided it would be a store about all of her favorite things. She looked around her house and decided she loved coffee and making bread so she started the café. And then she saw all of her crafts were from me so that was how we became business partners,” she said.
Whitehill explained that the pottery comes from the Ceramyka Artystczna factory, but added that they sell more than just the pottery. She said the store has something for everyone this holiday season. Along with Bigelow’s crafts, Whitehill also stocks the store with homemade oil, vinegars, honey, and their own dip line, all of which have been completely restocked ahead of the weekend.
Whitehill said there will be events throughout the weekend for the Shop Small event. She said, “We are hosting a breakfast buffet on Black Friday and have live music performed by Eric Gulbrandsen from 12 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. We will be serving wine slush and wine as well.”
In addition to the events, Whitehill added that all the pottery will be 20 percent off on Friday and Saturday.
Bigelow added that she is making some special crafts for the store on Friday and Saturday before she heads to the craft fair at the vocational school on Sunday.
The Pottery Cellar is located at 77 Mill St., Suite 75 in the Mill at Crane Pond building. The shop has its own entrance in the rear of the building near the river.
