Meet Amelia, the owner of Lauda, a gifts and stationery shop in Tacoma, Washington. With a lifelong interest in journaling and stationery, Amelia opened her shop in March 2022. Lauda features a carefully chosen selection of beautifully designed and functional products, including handmade notebooks and locally crafted gifts.
As a Tacoma resident and mother of young children, Amelia values the flexibility that comes with being her own boss. She’s active in her community and has watched her block, known as the “Unofficial South 11th Business District,” grow alongside her business.
Amelia focuses on providing a welcoming experience for each customer and supports her fellow local shop owners. Join us as we explore Amelia’s journey, from opening her business to building a space that inspires creativity and community.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you know that you wanted to open a stationery store?
I have wanted to open my own business of some kind for a really long time, and I had a lot of different ideas, but stationery, and specifically journaling, is something that I have loved my whole entire life, and I kind of just kept coming back to it.
What types of products can be found in your shop?
I carry stationery and gifts for creative people, so I’m always kind of trying to think the things that I love and that really spoke to my soul, especially when I was a younger person. I find things that are beautiful, practical, that have great design, but that also function really, really well.
I kind of have a list of requirements I run down with everything I bring in. I carry journals, planners, greeting cards, stationery sets, pens (but only pens I really love), and then lots of different types of gifts. I carry textiles, ceramics, and candles, and I try to have a mix of products from local makers and people from all over the place.
What are some of your favorite products around the shop?
I love the Popularia Emilio Braga notebooks. Those have been handmade in Portugal since 1918 – they’re gorgeous. I love the Defiant Candles, which is based here in Tacoma. It’s an awesome one-woman-owned business. I have so many favorites – State the Label, Mudwitch Ceramics – there’s so many good things.
What so you about being a small business owner?
I am a really independent person. I’ve always kind of felt like I’m on my own path, and so I love working for myself because I can really follow my own vision and my own ideas. I’m also a mom, I have young kids, so autonomy is super important to me. If they’re sick, I shut it down. It doesn’t always feel like the best business decision at times, but I know it’s what’s right for my family.
How did you decide to open your business in Tacoma?
We ended up in Tacoma because 20 years ago, I met this cute boy from Tacoma. I grew up in Bellevue and I had never spent a day here before. By the time that we were married and had lived in a couple other cities and were ready to have kids, we knew we wanted to come home, so we moved back in 2016. My oldest was born that spring.
Total truthfulness, affordability was a big part of it, but family as well. His parents and grandparents were here. When everything was shut down, proximity to family was a huge thing.
We’ve both always worked for small businesses, and over the next few years, it just really felt like the right time and the right place for me to finally open my own business.
What are some of the neighboring businesses that you support?
We call this block the “Unofficial South 11th Business District”. We are not technically Downtown, we’re not technically Hilltop – we’re just our own little own little thing on the hillside.
When I signed my lease here in 2022, I was the only retail business on this block. Everything else was service, appointment-based, and offices. It’s been really really fun to see the block grow and change. We still have a barber shop on the corner, we have a massage studio and tattoo shop – they’re all great neighbors.
On the other side we have this amazing kid’s shop, McCoy Kids, which is all about the small batch, sustainable and really cool toys and gear. They have a great kids book selection that’s very inclusive.
Just a few weeks ago, Tacoma Knife Sharpening & Mercantile opened up on the corner – that is a really great spot to get your knives sharpened, or to get some great locally made pottery, and all kinds of kitchen and home goods. My favorite thing is that they have a little free library for cookbooks!
What are you proud of as a small business owner?
I set out on this journey with an open mind, and it’s been a really interesting journey of just trying to find that balance between having a functional successful business and having the time and space to be a mom and take care of my family. It has definitely not always been easy. I’ve definitely had months where I didn’t make enough money and months where it felt so fun and easy and exciting.
I am really proud to have created a space that is really welcoming for people. I try to make sure that every person who comes in gets a greeting by name (if I know your name). If I don’t know your name, I hopefully will by the end of the visit.
I’m also really proud of the community that we’ve created on this block with the new businesses that have come in. I’ve been here for awhile, so it’s great to welcome new people and answer their questions, tell them anything they need to know about the neighborhood, the landlord, the neighbors. It just feels really nice to have a real community right here.
