It’s been a story of setbacks and survival for two women trying to launch their business, but with luck and a lot of resilience, they’ve opened a shop in West Richland. 

The Brick Box isn’t a Lego store, and it isn’t just one thing. 

Modeled after Pike Place Market in Seattle, it offers coffee, local baked goods, fresh flowers and a variety of artists’ products for sale, from candles and keychains to records and tie-dyed outfits.

If the shell art and ocean-themed back corner are reminiscent of a coastal gift shop, that’s intentional, said owners Sara Hutchings and Wendy Mitchell. It’s something not commonly found in the inland Tri-Cities. 

It’s meant to be a bit nostalgic, too, from macrame art to vinyl records and classic hits playing in the background. It’s a space that, to some customers, feels like home, Mitchell said. 

Finding home

The idea behind The Brick Box began at the now-defunct Public Market at Columbia River Warehouse in Kennewick in 2024, where several artists got together to form a booth focused on creators.

The name came from their space: originally a 13-by-13-foot “box” lined with brick-patterned vinyl wallpaper to make it look like its own store rather than a booth.

The concept took off from there, expanding to three booths within two months. “It was fun, and the response that we got from the public was huge,” Mitchell said. 

The Brick Box soon got a chance to collaborate with a coffee shop in Richland’s Uptown Shopping Center, and the artists saw record sales – for about six weeks. That’s when they found out that the shared space was actually a lease violation, and they had to leave.

At that point, Hutchings was the sole proprietor, and she told Mitchell that the store would have to be dissolved. But Mitchell wasn’t about to let that happen. “We automatically knew we can’t let this thing die,” she said.

So she and her husband put up the money to get The Brick Box into a brick-and-mortar location. Hutchings and Mitchell found a location in downtown Kennewick that they loved and began setting up shop there. 

Before they could open, however, a Kennewick building official found issues with fire safety codes which meant they couldn’t open. The duo couldn’t come to an agreement with the owner and weren’t successful in small claims court, so they left the location in late 2025. 

It was hard, Hutchings said, especially asking their vendors to come and pick up their merchandise. “Everybody was excited for us to open our doors, and it was just very crushing,” she said. 

But the women’s spirits weren’t dampened for long. “Our cheering squad is the community,” Hutchings said. Some people have followed them since their time at the Public Market. 

The silver lining of the experience is the chance to educate other small businesses about doing their homework, Hutchings said.

When they began scouting for their current home, they decided to get a broker. That’s how they discovered the spot at 4001 Kennedy Road in West Richland. Previously occupied by the Endive Eatery, which moved to a space near Richland’s Howard Amon Park, the space was a last-minute discovery for The Brick Box. 

“It was just perfect, fit like a glove,” Hutchings said. “And West Richland has been huge supporters … very friendly, just giving us ideas and options and resources.”

They got the keys in June and soft opened in early August. A grand opening is planned for 1 p.m. Oct. 3.

Sara Hutchings, left, and Wendy Mitchell saw success when they sold art from a coffee shop in Richland’s Uptown shopping center, prompting them to include coffee in their new venture in West Richland.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

A market experience

With a wide-open floor plan, The Brick Box has plenty of room for a coffee bar with a seating area, plus a shopping area filled with handmade retail items and plants. 

Hutchings and Mitchell have managed to make the shop work on a tight budget, working hard to get furniture, equipment and more secondhand items. Hutching recalled driving to Spokane to get a refrigerator from Habitat for Humanity. “Every little dime we stretched as much as possible,” she said. 

Coffee was an aspect they knew they wanted to include after the success they found at the Uptown. “People order coffee and then they just organically peruse and look around while they’re waiting for their drinks to be done,” Hutchings said. 

They even have a latte that features local honey from one of their vendor displays, BeeBlesst. 

It’s been a learning curve, but they’ve leaned on their Pasco-based coffee roaster, Houdini Coffee Roasters, and the experienced baristas they’ve hired. Customers have given advice, too, and the pair are still fine-tuning. 

On the art side, there are displays from around 20 different vendors, each with their own flair. Mitchell and Hutchings are selective when it comes to their vendors, as they try to stay neutral and family-friendly so everyone feels welcome in the shop.

A special attraction is their “pearl bar,” where customers can choose an oyster from a tank, try to guess the color of the pearl, then open the oyster and keep the pearl. It’s about the experience and making memories, Hutchings said. 

The pair have found that people appreciate the chance to browse in person and touch and see the items that artists have made, and the owners are happy to educate them about the work that goes into the products and the artists who have made them. 

That kind of interaction is rarer in a world of online orders that show up within a day or two, they said. 

Passion project

Hutchings and Mitchell have worked hard to get The Brick Box up and running.  

Mitchell is a school bus driver and will be in The Brick Box between shifts and weekends now that school has begun, while Hutchings quit her clerical position at Kadlec to pursue work at the shop. 

They’ve both spent a lot of time in the shop, which is open every day of the week. The idea was that they could catch commuters Monday through Friday – their shop includes a drive-thru window – while others might come down during free time on the weekends or travelers might make a stop on the way out of town. Mitchell said they plan to be open on holidays, too. 

Both women are also both artistically inclined, though not much of their work is in the shop just yet. Mitchell enjoys fluid art, while Hutchings is into all things steampunk. 

“We’re women of many hats,” Hutchings said. 

Both women said their husbands have been supportive of The Brick Box and help out when they can. 

Between the two of them, they’ve invested a total of $65,000 of their own money into the business. 

“That’s how much we believe in it,” Hutchings said. 

“We’ve seen how people react when they come through the doors,” Mitchell said. “Now we just got to get them through the doors.”

The Brick Box: 4001 Kennedy Road, Suites 15 and 16, West Richland. Facebook, [email protected].