Country casuals store finds niche

Patricia May invites everybody to come check out her new Lost Mountain Country Ladies and Men’s Casuals store in the JCPenney complex.  Sequim Gazette photo by Ashley Miller

by ASHLEY MILLER

for the Sequim Gazette

 

For most people, getting up and going to work every day is a job.

For Patricia May, it’s a blessing.

May opened Lost Mountain Country on Friday, Nov. 12. The store sells a variety of ladies and men’s casuals, as well as artwork and gifts.

“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” May said, admitting that the final decision to pursue her lifelong dream was prompted by the death of four loved ones in the past three years. “I decided if I wanted to do it, now was the time.”

For the past 11 years, May has served as the family “nana,” caregiving for those who were ill. Now, she’s busy mending her own bruised and battered soul.

Retail, May said, has amazing healing qualities. Though she enjoys ordering new products and arranging them in the store, her favorite part is being around the people, she said. “You have to enjoy people, and I truly do.”

Lost Mountain Country caters to men and women ages 35 and older. The quality and price of items is between JCPenney’s and Macy’s, May said.

“I look at clothing like a piece of art,” she said. “Everything is different, some good and some bad, but always changing.”

The Wild Bleu Singing Sparrow Collection of sleepwear and bedding is designed with menopausal women in mind. The “hot flash” pajamas and sheets use patented heat-release technology that pulls moisture from the body and evaporates it four times faster than cotton.

Other customer favorites include U.S.-made organic socks, Sierra’s Flexibly Fun Footwear (get a free strap with your first purchase), Piccadilly, Enro, Basic Options, Jess & Jane clothing, no-iron shirts and Dancing Winds earrings (purchase five pair and get a free favorite pair from the company).

Storewide, first-time customers receive a 25-percent discount. Gift certificates are available.

May strives to buy and sell products made in the U.S.

“It’s hard to find but it’s important to me,” she said. “It keeps Americans working and the country needs that.”

Lost Mountain Country is here to complement other stores not compete, May emphasized.

If anyone has recommendations or special requests on what the store should (or shouldn’t) carry, suggestion cards are available at the front desk, she said. “I’m still adjusting to what sizes and age groups (to appeal to).”

Lost Mountain Country Ladies and Men’s Casuals, 609 W. Washington St., Suite 6, is open for business 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday.

A grand opening celebration is scheduled on “Black Friday,” Nov. 25.

For more information, call 582-9900.