PORT TOWNSEND — Sometimes the best new ideas come from blending them with the old.
For example, combining doughnuts and antiques.
The Olympic Trading Post at 2123 W. Sims Way stumbled on this mixture of merchandise because of the owners’ talent and interests.
“We weren’t going to do the doughnuts right away, ” said Debi Goetz, who with her husband, Courtland, operates the shop that opened in September.
But the deep-fat fryer in the back was calling to her, she said.
And as of last week, “it was saying, ‘No more fish. Just doughnuts.”
The location was last occupied by McClane’s Cafe. Where once fish and chips were served is now full of what Debi Goetz describes as “affordable collectibles.”
“We want to create a local hangout where local people can come to have a cup of tea or coffee, sit with the Wi-Fi and talk to their neighbors.”
The shop is a reflection of simple tastes and needs, of stores once common but now harder to find.
“We wanted to keep it simple,” Courtland Goetz said.
“There are a lot of espresso places with fancy coffees, and cafes where you can get really good, rich fancy pastries, but sometimes people don’t want a big scene.”
But making the doughnuts more “healthy” is not in the cards.
“We’ve looked into making whole wheat doughnuts or going gluten-free,” Debi Goetz said.
“But if you are going to have a doughnut, you know it’s a treat so the healthy part isn’t so important,” she said.
“You know there is going to be a lot of sugar and butter.”
Their inventory varies with the mix that is delivered. Current seasonal offerings are vanilla and pumpkin, but next week, blueberry, strawberry and chocolate will be offered as well.
Part of the simplicity quest has to do with cost, both in production and for the customer.
“As soon as you start using more expensive ingredients, you need to pass that [cost] on,” Debi Goetz said.
“We don’t want to be charging any more than $1 for a doughnut. We want to give our customers something affordable.”
The tourists that come into the shop are the icing on the cake — or the doughnut — but the store is geared toward the locals.
“The tourists in Port Townsend are great, but they come in waves,” Courtland Goetz said.
“There is a summer rush and a little bit of a Christmas rush, but we want to be here for the people who live here all year.”
The Goetzes — who get up at 5:30 a.m. to make the doughnuts — have a limited-menu restaurant license, but the fryer can make about 60 doughnuts an hour, so wholesaling to local stores is possible once the owners acquire the proper permit.
Currently, they offer delivery as far as Port Hadlock, though they tack $1 delivery charge onto the basic delivered cost of $13 a dozen. To pick up a dozen at their shop, the charge is $11 per dozen.
The Goetzes had several catering clients when they owned a coffee shop in Kingston.
Debi Goetz said that Port Townsend antique stores generally have more expensive items, so she tries to be more affordable.
She also charges a 25 percent consignment fee, which she said is less than average.
“Most of the stuff here is mine from my personal collection, so whatever I sell for someone else is a favor to them so I don’t need to gouge them,” she said.
The Goetzes operated an antiques store in Poulsbo and a coffee stand with a side doughnut business in Kingston.
The couple met on the pizza line at Central Market in Poulsbo 13 years ago and quickly became personal and professional partners.
They had been coming up to Port Townsend for years and jumped at the opportunity to open a shop after they came to town this summer on a camping trip and noticed the empty building.
It offers a convenient commute as they live in an apartment upstairs from the store.
“The local people who have come in here have been laid- back and really friendly,” Debi Goetz said.
“It’s been great getting to know them.”
The Olympic Trading Post is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
