Pelindaba Lavender opens new store in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Pelindaba Lavender will open a store and product gallery in Santa Rosa, Calif.’s Montgomery Village Shopping Center on Oct. 23.

The new location follows a brief trial period at the Santa Rosa Downtown Market, during which the store’s proprietors, Art and Ruth Woolsey, introduced Pelindaba Lavender to the local community.

“Having personally experienced the excellence of Pelindaba’s line of organic lavender products, we are excited by our move into a more permanent setting,” Ruth Woolsey said in a press release. “People in Sonoma County appreciate organically grown products that are derived from sustainable agriculture. Our love of the San Juan Islands is now linked to our home here in Santa Rosa through this venture.”

The Santa Rosa store is the first Pelindaba Lavender store outside Washington state. Pelindaba opened a store in downtown Seattle’s Westlake Center in June, following a three-year retail trial program in that city and in Bellevue.

“Partnering with others in this retail expansion allows us to focus our creativity and energy more fully on further expanding our farming operations and our already extensive line of all-natural lavender product offerings,” said Stephen Robins, Pelindaba Lavender’s founder-owner.

In 11 years, Pelindaba Lavender has developed into a nationally prominent farmer of organically certified lavender, and manufacturer and retailer of more than 250 lavender products handcrafted entirely by island residents. It has gained wide recognition as a unique model of sustainable community development, as well as a popular regional agri-tourism destination.

Pelindaba Lavender was nominated for Washington state’s 2004 Governor’s Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and was the recipient of San Juan County Rotary’s Award for Business Excellence in 2005.

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