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Fern & Sycamore, a new store that opened Saturday Sept. 22 in Washington, Mo., keeps things local by offering only American-made products. The store carries unique gifts, made more unique by the fact that they are all made in the good ol’ US of A.
Gina Scego, the owner of Fern & Sycamore, has both political and economic reasons for carrying only American-made products. She says she wants to support native businesses and help create more jobs in the US.
“If we really want to turn around this country, we need to focus on our country and we need to buy American-made,” Scego says. “We need to support companies here, and artists here.”
The store carries a range of products, such as women’s jewelry, knives, scarves, bags, and dog collars. Scego says most of the items she sells, she has purchased at some point in the past, either for herself or as a gift. Her passion for buying American-made gifts is what inspired her to open the store.
“I like to get gifts, but there is a lot in giving a gift, the story behind it,” Scego
Next to each item at her store, Scego displays a small card with information on where the item came from, and some facts about the business that produced it.
“Maybe their factory or studio is completely powered by wind, or they’re solar, or they do this with the leftover sawdust from the pepper mills,” Scego says of some of the businesses she purchases from.
The products come from a wide range of states, from Washington, to Minnesota, to Texas, to right here in Missouri.
If one thing can be certain, it’s that Scego knows exactly where each product is coming from and how it’s made.
Products carried at Fern & Sycamore range from $5 to $300-plus, so there are gifts in everyone’s price range. Some of the more unique items the store carries are Montana fire starters with naturally shed deer antler handles, tumblers made out of discarded wine bottles, and wooden wildflowers. Scego’s husband who runs a powder coating company, Cole Scego, made all the furniture and displays in the store.
Gina Scego said she hopes the store will become a “destination store” in the area. She said there are similar stores in “younger” cities, such as Portland and Austin, but nothing like Fern & Sycamore in Washington, Mo.
“It’s definitely unlike anything else around,” Gina Scego says. “I thought I would try to bring a little life to downtown Washington.”
Fern & Sycamore is located at 319 Elm Street, in Washington, Mo. Their hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
