Although it already had a soft opening, around the end of May to the start of June, January Botanicals is slated to stage an official grand opening with the upcoming opening of its juice, tea and smoothie bar, at its existing location at 2215 E. Sims Way in Port Townsend, next to 1-2-3 Thai Food.

“We were not open by January like we’d planned, but January is every day at January Botanicals,” said owner Stephanie Dickey, who noted she’d named her business after Janus, the ancient Roman god of doors, whose two faces looked to the past and future simultaneously.

“We want to be your doorway into health and wellness everyday, looking from the past into your future wellness path, by offering knowledge, new beginnings and a helping hand towards your goals.” 

Although she’s still waiting on the remaining approvals and paperwork for the juice, tea and smoothie bar, Dickey pointed out that the rest of January Botanicals is open from 1-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays, although she expects those hours will expand with the opening of the drinks bar.

In the meantime, Dickey touted January Botanicals’ “top-of-the-line” and “professional-grade” supplements, face and body care, and other health products and classes, plus its sugar-free chocolate and seasonal stocking stuffers.

“We’re creating a practitioner list, to connect you to services that might help you achieve your health goals,” said Dickey, who expects to host practitioners “aligned with holistic approaches.”

Dickey’s studies of different nutritional lifestyle choices led to her managing the Central Co-op (then Madison Market) in 1996, before she moved to Jefferson County in 2004, and began managing the health and beauty aid department of the Food Co-op.

Dickey followed this with a number of years as the lead buyer for Uptown Nutrition, where she first opened IndiGlo Holistic Massage, before opening IndiGlo Healing Arts on Taylor Street in 2014, and she has no plans to hang up her “massage hands” while running January Botanicals.

Throughout her career, Dickey said she’s enjoyed connecting people to “nature’s ability to provide stability, support and healing” for their bodies, so they can find specific methods, paths and products that can help them feel better, and maintain and improve their quality of life. 

“I’m always amazed at how nature gives us so many tools that work organically,” said Dickey, who’s worked with people to help them recover from injuries and even just adjust to aging. “The opening of January Botanicals is another extension of bringing those things to the community.”

As a local small business owner, Dickey focuses on providing low-waste packaging and clean products, because “I won’t bring things into the store that I wouldn’t want to take myself.”

Dickey emphasized that January Botanicals carefully curates its product selection to ensure quality, by verifying its suppliers’ manufacturing practices, standards, certifications and ingredients, and by preferencing local or Pacific Northwest products, as well as companies that are family-owned, “as opposed to being owned by giant corporations.”

Dickey’s goal is for January Botanicals to offer “a warm, welcoming, engaging and comforting sensory experience,” since she believes nutrition can be “delicious” and “community-building” all at once. 

Dickey acknowledged the relative briskness of online shopping, but assured customers that January Botanicals allows them to avoid the pitfalls of counterfeit products or price-gouging, while also helping support their community via retail tax revenues.

Dickey ultimately would love to see January Botanicals grow into an “oasis” for health and wellness support, classes, resources and even connections made between those stopping by.

“Talk to others while shopping, and learn from each other’s conversations,” Dickey said. “We don’t mind you lingering for a while, or simply sitting back to read up on things.”

Indeed, Dickey credited January Botanicals’ emergence to the vision it shares with its supporters.

“This is our community,” Dickey said. “I’ve worked in Port Townsend for 20 years, and lived in Jefferson County all that time. This is a vibrant community, dedicated to health and well-being, so I want to bring something to this community that gives back to it. People here want to live a life connected to nature and vitality, and we want to support that. This community is excited about their health, longevity and feeling good.”