Potpourri Northwest Interiors changing its name to Biquette Interiors in January

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In October, Potpourri Northwest Interiors in uptown Port Townsend changed ownership, and in January it will change names, to Biquette Interiors.

After 32 years, Jeanne Moore was ready to step down from the business she’d started, but she’d only briefly met Jacqueline Mention a handful of times before she decided to hand off her life’s work to the woman who would become her successor.

“You have to be passionate about your business, or else it just won’t work,” Moore said. “If you have that passion, a lot of other things will fall into place. I talked to a few people about them taking over the business. Everyone was excited, and had several ideas, but they also tended to be more fearful. Jacqueline is very smart, but also very calm. And she’s such a lovely person.”

Mention expressed her gratitude to Moore for her leap of faith, especially since she and Moore agreed that it didn’t take the new owner long to find her own footing.

“I stopped by after the handover, but she let me go after a few days,” Moore said.

“Jeanne agreed to stick around and help out through the end of the year, but after I took over at the start of October, I’d released her before my second week, so I could spread my own wings,” Mention said.

Armed with a degree in art history, Mention has spent a lifetime engaging in acts of interior design, usually informally or for friends, without ever making it a full-time career.

“I suppose it came to me so easily that I assumed everyone could do it, so I didn’t necessarily see the value in such a skill,” said Mention, who recently capped off nine years at Centrum, for whom she “wore a lot of hats,” from volunteer coordinator to box office manager, before she oversaw the refurbishing of nine cabins for artists in residence.

While Potpourri Northwest Interiors currently specializes in wallpaper, upholstery and fabrics, Mention looks forward to expanding its selection and services.

“We have our own upholsterer in the back of the store,” Mention said. “But I plan to add more tangible merchandise, like glassware, lighting and antique rugs. Unlike shopping online, where you need to know what you’re looking for beforehand, I like that people can come in our store, see something they like and buy it on a whim.”

Mention also aims to provide consultations on color and other interior decoration-related matters.

“I love surrounding myself with beautiful things to create comfortable spaces,” Mention said. “Your surroundings should contribute to creating a place that you want to inhabit. Everyone has a different aesthetic, but in each case, you can make a place inviting or oppositional to them.”

Mention credited both Moore and her new neighbors in uptown Port Townsend with helping to make her feel welcome in her new business, even as she worried how Moore would feel about Mention changing the name to Biquette Interiors.

“Jeanne has been so generous and kind,” Mention said. “‘Biquette’ is French for ‘little goat.’ It’s what my dad called me, and it’s a common term of endearment of French parents for their kids.”

Both Moore and Mention saw the number of uptown businesses who have passed the torch to relatively younger owners as a positive sign for the community as a whole.

“It feels so young now,” Moore said. “You have younger people running the stores and walking the streets. It actually makes me feel younger. It’s a solid community with a great energy.”

“Uptown is an incredible place,” Mention said. “All the owners are so supportive of each other. There’s been a lot of businesses changing hands, as the newer owners have continued the former owners’ traditions, while still making those stores their own.”

Potpourri Northwest Interiors, soon to become Biquette Interiors, is located at 1004 Lawrence St.

Its website is at biquetteinteriors.com, while Mention’s own site is at jacquelinemention.com.