Colfax’s Cottage Gate switches ownership

Ownership of Colfax’s Cottage Gate has switched hands. New owner Chris Mathis is days away from signing the final paperwork on the business.

Mathis said the store will still have an active floral and coffee business but she plans on adding a café in later months.

Former owner Rayanna DeFord sold the business to Mathis because the stress of running the place was exacerbating her ongoing health problems.

“I’ve just gotta get off of my feet,” DeFord told the Gazette. DeFord also said the economic downturn has impacted income for the past two years.

DeFord operated the business in its current location at 108 E. Wawawai for the past eight years. She and Nancy Hull of Colfax started Cottage Gate 11 years ago in a former house in the 600 block of North Main Street.

They moved to the opposite end of town when their original shop became part of the site for the Best Western Wheatland Inn. The Wawawai Street location was originally the home of Dr. John Benson, who had it built in 1903.

Hull sold her interest in the business to DeFord two and a half years ago.

Mathis moved to Colfax in mid-July from Moses Lake with the intention of taking over Cottage Gate.

“I just took a leap,” Mathis said, who is leasing a small house in Colfax.

Her daughter, Mary Jean Inman, moved to Colfax two years ago with her husband Jeremy, who serves as a youth pastor at the Colfax Assembly of God.

Mary Jean called Mathis last spring and told her Cottage Gate was for sale.

“I decided to just go for a dream,” she said.

The three existing Cottage Gate employees will remain on staff. Mathis said their expertise with the store has already been helpful in painting and redecorating the shop.

“I think she’ll do well,” DeFord said.

The entrance at Cottage Gate now features their harvest display; with brilliant orange pumpkins and other harvest features.

Mathis has set up a tall table in one corner which she said she’ll eventually line with high stools for their café. With the addition of some lounge chairs, she hopes to make a homey café setting.

The rooms of the second floor of the building are currently closed while Mathis rearranges the merchandise.

Mathis (nee Courtright) has lived most of her life in Moses Lake. She worked as a farmer, rancher and bookkeeper for the past 30 years, but her love for decorating and cooking has always stayed at the back of her mind.

Now single, Mathis has three other grown children, Paul, now serving in the Marine Corp; Calvin of Moses Lake, and Josh of Pullman.

Operating hours for Cottage Gate are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.