Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
K's Bridal opened Oct. 17 near the corner of Main Street and Canyon Street in Colfax to offer sewing, tailoring and alterations.
For just wedding dresses?
"More than that," said Kim Nguyen. "I do everything, anything, patching, hemming, sewing and seamstress, I'm the woman who can take care of that. Men, women and children. My hobby, also my talent, with 48 years experience."
Nguyen, who has owned six buildings in Colfax since 2016, previously had a bridal shop in Seattle's Rainier Avenue/Columbia City area which closed in 1998.
The Colfax shop is on the ground floor of one of Nguyen's buildings which were bought before she had been to the town. Her interest in Colfax was first piqued by a picture online of the old Rose Theater, listed for sale. It was the first building she and husband Phong bought here.
"I just pick and I Google, and I say, God, this is what I got," Nguyen said.
Phong has worked for Boeing and Applied Materials.
Return
Kim hopes to find an employee to help run K's Bridal, especially for when she leaves to bridal shows a few times per year.
"I guarantee my work, I know my work, if someone is not happy I don't want any money," Nguyen said.
She now lives in Colfax and Rockport, Texas, near Corpus Christi – in which her home was flooded by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.
"I was away for awhile to continue recovery from the hurricane. I did not pay so much attention to here," Kim said. "Now I'm here. Colfax is a really nice town, really nice people, really nice community. That's why I'm here."
She grew up in Vietnam and learned to sew as a child.
"I learned to sew and I know how to sew when I'm 12. I've been sewing for so long," Nguyen said.
American start
In Renton, starting out in the United States in 1978, Nguyen was one of seven family members sponsored by the Highland Community Church. The journey to get there, Nguyen indicated, began at night.
"The Communists chasing us and shoot at boat," Nguyen said. "The bullets go in boat, and go out."
The subsequent trip, she said, included, at one point, seven days adrift in the South China Sea after leaving her home country for the Philippines.
"We thought we die," Nguyen said.
A fishing boat came upon them and Nguyen's group traded jewelry for fish and rice.
"Then we survive," she said.
Later, after being towed to the Philippines and a stay in a refugee camp, they were sponsored to come to America.
In Renton, Nguyen worked as a custodian and later sewed awnings for boats.
In Vietnam, she grew up partly in Ban Me Thuot, on her grandparents farm – "The communists come, took it first" – and then in Saigon as the Vietnam War escalated.
"When we go to school, we saw a lot of V.C. (Viet Cong). Sometimes we see V.C. dying in the classroom."
Coming to Colfax
Nguyen's Google searching that led her to the Rose Theater in Colfax began with seeking landmark, historical buildings anywhere around the U.S. Listings came up: Philadelphia, Detroit, Spokane.
She saw buildings listed near where the new Spokane UW/WSU Medical School opened. She called on a few, but the response was slow. Eventually, a realtor mentioned another historical, landmark building he represented, in the town of Colfax.
Nguyen asked to see more pictures and later was put in touch with real estate agent Carmen Bruya.
The purchases began.
Is Phong involved in this too, or just Kim?
"He have to go through with it, agree on it," said Nguyen. "He was the one that like approve, yes or no."
K's Bridal is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday, with appointments.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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