A ‘treasure Trove’ in Downtown Battle Ground

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On Sept. 4, Abbie Erickson saw a lifelong idea of hers come to life when the doors of Trove opened to Battle Ground patrons for the city’s September First Friday celebration. With people lining up near the shop at 209 E Main Street, one of the newest additions to Old Town Battle Ground was well-received by the public on opening day.

“It was pretty exciting and emotional,” Erickson said about opening the shop for the first time. “It didn’t feel real.”

Erickson said she felt like “the whole town” came out to support her on opening day and mentioned that support hasn’t let up in the months after opening, especially from fellow Battle Ground business owners.

“(In opening the shop) I’ve discovered that the business owners in Battle Ground are very supportive of each other,” she said, mentioning how she has had fellow shop owners send customers her way and help her get set up. “That part has been utterly amazing.” 

Over the past seven years, Erickson has run a small vendor shop at Rusty Glamor just down the road. Opening a full-blown shop like Trove has been in the back of her mind for longer than that.

However, life events and raising children put the idea of a shop of her own on hold until one of her daughters came home from Michigan with the idea of opening a store and coffee shop combo last January.

Originally, Erickson and her daughter Mamie Homola talked about the idea of the shop as a plan for the distant future. However, after the duo spent the first few months of 2020 dreaming, planning and talking about the idea, Erickson decided to “go for it” in mid-March.

Having never lived through a global pandemic before, Erickson didn’t know what to expect when businesses started closing their doors due to health protocols across the state and said she “just kept on planning” By June she had found a building for her shop, and by the first day of August, Erickson and her family were replacing the lights, painting the walls and getting the store ready for opening day.



Throughout the process of getting the building ready, Erickson was reaching out to local artists and creators to be vendors for the shop, ensuring the store would have local charm on day one. 

The store now boasts around 45 vendors, each offering a unique style of home good or kind of art. Home goods are central to the theming of the store with a craft paint line for sale along with bath bombs, soaps and other local decor being front and center in the shop.

In one corner of the shop, new mothers can find hand-designed clothing and home linens, and on another end, locally handmade concrete art for home and garden sits next to posters, prints and hand-poured candles.

“Our little goal is to be the one stop gift shop, you know, whether it's baby items or candles and soaps,” Erickson said. “You will (also) find the home decor and you will always find local art. Always.” 

Along with Trove, part of Homola’s idea for the family business included a coffee shop, an idea she got from working in a similar store during her time in Michigan. While coffee isn’t served inside Trove, Erickson, Homola and the rest of the family are working to get one set up and opened right next door. Homola said the shop will be serving beans locally roasted by Luckman’s Coffee in Woodland and will eventually have an outdoor seating area. 

Homola and Erickson each said meeting the residents of Battle Ground - vendors and patrons - have been their favorite part of owning the shop. “The community here is just great and extremely supportive.” they said. 

While much of the store is filled up with home decor, Erickson said she is always welcome to new vendors and said anyone that wants to reach out for a possible spot in the shop should reach out to her on the store's Facebook page at bit.ly/39ONWNd. The store can also be found online at trovebattleground.com/