Culture
Spartan Shop
Resident Offset Coffee Table, available in oak and blackened oak.
The round, solid oak wood coffee table has three cylindrical legs that can be positioned to tuck neatly under the table or rotated to extend slightly beyond the tabletop’s edge.
Image courtesy of: Spartan Shop
Currie Person started her minimalist, contemporary homewares collection in Austin. For ten years, Spartan Shop held court on South Lamar Street; however in 2017 the owner decided to close that location and move operations to a flagship store in Portland, Oregon.
The team consists of Person’s husband, Patrick Newell, and her buying partner, Julie Pearson. Pearson will turn the Austin operations into Spartan Studio, a creative consultancy that offers interior styling for commercial and residential spaces. In addition, the team will continue to source and provide retail strategy services for local hotels and restaurants.
Hiro Oak barstools by De Jong & Co.
Image courtesy of: Dwell, photographed by: Phil De Jong
The new store opened on a a busy retail area in Portland’s Industrial Southeast area. The stunning floor-to-ceiling windows project beautiful lighting into the esthetically pleasing showroom. The 1923 structure that houses Spartan Shop has had many different “lives”: car showroom, wholesale flower market, and a “Portland Pop” bottling facility.
The retail space also contains a backroom headquarters meant to help expand the online business referred to as “purveyors of minimalist objects for life.” The shop’s eye-catching design was via a collaboration with Ruth De Jong, an interior designer who is half of the Los Angeles-based brother-sister furniture duo, De Jong & Co.
Person thoroughly loves working on the shop’s displays and collaborating on pieces; she says (courtesy of and interview with Jennifer Baum Lagdameo for Dwell), “It has been a really fun collaboration for us. We’re trying to do more and more outreach for De Jong & Co. and act as kind of a showroom for their furniture in the Pacific Northwest. Their aesthetic fits ours so well. It’s warm and has so much thought and philosophy behind it.”
Kati Von Lehman’s pedestal planters. Matte white ceramic planters with a glazed interior. The best feature is the detachable pedestal base that catches the pot’s excess water.
Image courtesy of: Spartan Shop
Spartan Shop is constantly on a constant hunt for unique pieces…as such, they have become quite successful at collaborating with talented makers to create exclusive editions for their store. These pieces may be ceramics and they may be furniture; literally, the sky’s the limit!
Person’s enthusiasm is boundless and she’s extended that excitement into product development, the business’s new arm. She says, “We’ve been doing this for a long time and have relationships with so many different people all over the world, and we’re really good at just jumping into a city and being like, “Let’s get stuff made!””
Small Indigo Blue Vase A. Small cinched ceramic vase made by hand using only slabs of clay. Textured indigo with a navy blue glazed exterior and interior of deep brown clay.
Image courtesy of: Spartan Shop
Another amazing maker that Spartan Shop carries is the ceramicist Victoria Morris. The Los Angeles native has been making pottery for over 25 years. Her work has been described as both minimalist and unique; in such, each piece is one-of-a-kind. Morris makes sure to accept the subtle variations between each piece. She says that is what makes each object so special.
Inside the perfectly curated boutique!
Image courtesy of: SF Girl By Bay
Person’s guiding principals of quality, artistry, simplicity, and longevity are what makes Spartan Shop a success. The founder prides herself on the long-standing relationships she has established with both makers and customers. In addition, she hopes that her philosophy of “buying fewer things that are beautifully made and meant to last—pieces that have a story and can often serve multiple purposes in your home” will inspire all those who step foot inside the charming locale (or those who frequent it online).
