Eight years ago, when the Journal last caught up with Denielle Waltermire-Stuhlmiller, owner of Simply Northwest gift shop, sloths, unicorns, mermaids, and llamas reigned in popularity. While current tastes have shifted to cherries, chickens, book-lover merchandise, and bees, the Spokane Valley-based retailer maintains a proactive approach to stay ahead of the curve.

“The cherries are really big right now,” Waltermire-Stuhlmiller says. “It’s just funny, you've got to be ahead of the trends. When I’m not physically here, I do a lot of reading, researching; I’m looking online to try and stay ahead of trends.”

Located at 11806 E. Sprague in Spokane Valley, Simply Northwest consists of two business ventures under one roof: retail and corporate gift giving.

On the retail side, Simply Northwest’s gift shop operates in a 3,500-square-foot store packed with Pacific Northwest-themed novelty gifts, home decor, apparel, specialty foods, and seasonal products. 

The other side of her business focuses on corporate gift-giving, through which companies request specialty packaged gift baskets as employee appreciation gifts, recruiting gifts, client thank you gifts, or real estate closing gifts. Simply Northwest works with hundreds of business clients that use this service, including credit unions, hospitals, construction companies, and universities, she says.

“If it were just retail or just production with my corporate accounts, I don’t know that we would still be here,” she says. “But because we have both, we are still here.”

Most of Simply Northwest’s staff is part-time, including two bakers, a delivery driver, a bookkeeper, a production assistant, and six retail associates. Waltermire-Stuhlmiller employs a full-time production manager and a full-time retail lead. During the holidays, when the store makes 80% of its sales for the year, the workforce nearly triples, she says.

While novelty gift trends are constantly changing, Waltermire-Stuhlmiller says Simply Northwest has had to focus on managing its annual revenue in a changing economic environment. Before the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Waltermire-Stuhlmiller could make educated guesses on how the business would do the following year. That has not been true in recent years, she says. Christmas in 2020 and 2021 were booming years for the gift shop, as many businesses turned to Simply Northwest for gift-giving ideas. However, revenue in the last three years has slowly decreased, spurred by rising wages, inflation, increasing operating costs, and customers with limited discretionary spending, she says.

“Washington continues to be a very difficult state for small business owners,” she says. “I’ve actually looked into moving it to Idaho because we have a river cabin out there that we will eventually move out to and live out there once my kids graduate high school.”

Waltermire-Stuhlmiller, 45, is a 2015 Spokane Journal of Business Rising Star. She purchased Simply Northwest in January 2011 when the business was mostly focused on corporate gift giving, she says.

Under her direction, she’s grown the retail side considerably. One of the strongest themes throughout the shop involves items crafted by makers and artisans from the region, such as hand-poured soy wax candles by Spokane-based Dandles Candles LLC and hot sauce from Spokane Valley-based Elixir Sauce Co. Consignment constitutes about 20% of the store’s inventory, offering both seasoned and emerging vendors a platform to sell their products, she says.

Simply Northwest also has expanded beyond traditional souvenirs. The store now features sections dedicated to Bigfoot enthusiasts, lake and river life, barbecue lovers, bookworms, teachers, nurses, retirees, and collegiate sports fans, among others. Bigfoot merchandise has unexpectedly become of the of the store's top categories, Waltermire-Stuhlmiller says.

“About 10 years ago, I had a sales rep tell me I should try carrying some Bigfoot products and I thought, ‘Bigfoot? Really?’” she says. “It just grew, and it's one of our best areas now.”

In addition to the retail space, Simply Northwest features an 800-square-foot second-story space comprised of a bookkeeping office and a commercial kitchen, where peanut brittle and cookies are baked for sale in the gift shop. A 6,000-square-foot basement is dedicated to the company's shipping, receiving, production, holiday inventory, and basket storage.  

Waltermire-Stuhlmiller has entrepreneurial roots. Her grandfather established the Spokane Valley automotive dealer Dishman Dodge, where her husband and brother currently work. Her mother, Marlene Hollenback, is the former president. 

When Waltermire-Stuhlmiller purchased Simply Northwest from its previous owner, Dee Scott, the transaction was tied to the sale of the entire building. Unable to purchase the property herself at the time, Waltermire-Stuhlmiller 's mother stepped in to buy it, securing a location that also houses a restaurant, a salon, and a residential tenant. Following her mother’s passing in 2017, Waltermire-Stuhlmiller inherited the property. 

“My mom, when she was still here, she would use Simply Northwest for some of her gifting needs through Dishman Dodge,” she says. “(Scott) decided to sell it, so my mom stepped in and she bought the building. … If somebody else would’ve gotten it, they would have said, ‘Done, tear it down.'"