Sparkle Gifts & Whatnots has been owned and operated by Richelle Haas since she started the boutique in 2017. Richelle’s goal is to have people leave her store happier than when they walked in. Even if they don’t buy anything, Richelle’s customers can grab a sparkling water, browse the goods, and exhale their stress. Sparkle Gifts & Whatnots is full of curated items from local artists and businesses, Seahawks gear, holiday decor, inspirational wall art, and always unique whatnots. Sparkle makes it easy to find the perfect, thoughtful gift for the special people in your life.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired you to open Sparkle Gifts & Whatnots?
I had been a flight attendant in my 20s and quit my job as a flight attendant to be a stay-at-home mom. As my kids were going into high school, I thought about how I had always dreamed of owning a store. I’d even collected sea glass on Alki Beach when the kids were little, saying someday I’m going to open a store and we’re going to give this away. And I’ll show you where the sea glass is. I’ve been giving it away since 2017.
Then I had a plot twist in my life, and my family broke apart. Instead of be a victim, I chose to follow my dream and I decided to open this kind of on a whim. I moved things out of my garage, made a banner at Staples, and opened up. I’ve won awards for being the Best Gift Shop since 2017 and the Best Customer Service since 2017.
We are about to celebrate our seventh birthday on Small Business Saturday. I opened the day after Thanksgiving.
I love the city of Renton. I love being a go-to place and a source for community. I love being a place where you can come and I can curate a gift for you. You can also just come in and grab a sparkling water and tell me about your day. I love hearing about your family and I like being part of the community.
What keeps you motivated and what inspires you to be a business owner?
I feel like everybody’s got a sole purpose and when I was a younger person, I used to decorate my room like it was a store. I always wanted to play store. I love creating, I love making a place where people can come together. When I used to babysit, I used to gift wrap the gifts as an add-on for my services, even at 10 years old. So, I’ve always had an entrepreneur spirit.
I like to see what everybody that I come into contact with. I like to tap into what your sole purpose is, what drives you, what moves you. I think when you come in here and you can get away from what’s going on out there. You can look around and you find parts of yourself that maybe you’ve stored away in the busy world, and you can find it again and sparkle and create your own things out there.
What can a first-time customer expect when they come in?
It’s shifted over the years, but I think right now businesses are really focusing on small businesses and helping other small businesses. So I like to buy from people that from around here. I have candles from Spokane. I have artists and women-owned businesses that I like to buy from. I think the source is important. But I also support women that are importing things. I am really working on helping other women grow their businesses and helping people find what they love. I love that.
What advice would you give to a business owner who is just getting started or wants to open a retail shop?
I think that the biggest piece of advice is to just follow your own path because everybody’s got their own version of what they think you should be doing or what how it should be done and only you know the way that it should be done. How somebody is going to open their business down the road isn’t necessarily going to be how I would do it, and vice versa.
Sparkle Gifts & Whatnots is different than it was seven years ago. I host vision board classes now. We do sound healing classes on Friday evenings. I feel community is really important and I like to move towards that. Stay in whatever drives you.
If you don’t follow your heart, you will never know. That’s the scariest part is not knowing whether you’d fail. Not doing it is worse than failing.
Why do you think it’s important for people to #SpendLikeItMatters?
I think there’s just something about having somebody say “hello” to you. I think there’s something about knowing that your neighbor owns the shop next door.That’s what keeps our community going.
I’ve really experienced the community of people in Renton supporting me. When you go to any of the big stores, everything’s locked up. There’s nothing personal. Nobody says hello. It’s already an isolated time. So the small businesses in our community are the heartbeat, and we have to keep them going. Without them, where’s the hello? Where’s the interaction? No immediate need goes unmet when you’re working with someone in your community.
What are other businesses that you like to support in Renton?
- St. Charles Place is an antique shop. He’s been here 50 years
- Liberty Cafe – Debbie was the OG Latte Lady. She owned the first drive-thru latte place at Jet City.
- Macadons and Wildwood Creative, and the bookstore!
I’d also like to give a shout out to Luther’s Table. It’s a local place, and they have open mic nights on Thursday nights. They’re going to be having meals for the homeless. It’s another important part of our community that is just getting underway again.
We’ve built a beautiful city.