A look inside Appalachian Handmade

By Jenny Harnish, RealWV

Katrina Forbes’ vision is for the younger generations to get in touch with their roots.

“When I look at quilting and woodwork and blacksmithing, I feel a lot of Appalachia,” she said. 

Appalachian Handmade opened in White Sulphur Springs in October, but she and her husband Lee Forbes had been thinking about the concept long before that. 

“We have been doing research for the last two years, collecting (business) cards. We utilized the state fair last year to accumulate leads, and the flea market in the fall,” she said. 

Right now there are 26 different vendors selling their hand made goods at Appalachian Handmade. The vendors set their own prices and they can adjust them however they want to. 

All of the current vendors are from West Virginia except one from Virginia and two from North Carolina. Their goods range from quilted blankets, two different wood laser engravers, jewelry, soaps, several pottery vendors, furniture, plants, yarn and local honey. Forbes goal is to have a wide variety of goods for shoppers to experience. 

“We want to be known as the honey connoisseur place. There are lots of people who make honey and I want to get them in the shop. I want to have 15-100 honeys. Honey is like wine – based on where it is harvested from it all tastes different – it’s so unique,” she said. 

Vendors set their own prices and the store takes a 25% commission. 

“We want to have a space where people can sell their product at a reasonable price and also encourage people to return to their roots,” she said.

Appalachia Handmade is located at 169 Pocahontas Trail in White Sulphur Springs.