Wausau couple turn passions into a dream come true

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

October 14, 2024

WAUSAU – For Gabrielle and Tristan Shier, The Norwegian Wood is a culmination of their mutual love of vinyl records and music, and her love of shopping.

A hair stylist for seven years at a downtown Wausau salon, Gabrielle said though she loved her work and the clients she served, she was ready for a change. 

The one thing she said she often discussed with clients and friends was that there weren’t enough places in Wausau for women to shop, especially younger women. 

“So, I went home one night and said to my husband, ‘I have a crazy idea, but I really want to open a clothing store,’” Gabrielle said. “I love shopping; I love fashion; I love hair and make-up; I love all those things – but I would always get in trouble by shopping too much. So, I thought it would be a good idea to make a business out of the fact that I like to shop.” 

Meanwhile, both she and Tristan, as well as their 15-year-old daughter, said they have a deep-rooted love for vinyl records, especially Tristan. 

“His dream had long been to have a record store,” Gabrielle said. “So, we thought, ‘Why not incorporate the two together – music and fashion?’ That’s how the store came about.”

Their love for music, Gabrielle said, especially anything and everything Beatles, even played a part in the name of their business, originating from an old Beatles song, “Norwegian Wood” on their “Rubber Soul” album. 

“We’re a big Beatles-loving family,” she said. “We have all of their records and spin them quite often. We were looking for a business name that was somehow music-related. We were scouring all these names and Norwegian Wood came along, and I said, ‘That would be a really fun name for a store.’ It especially fits because I’m about 30% Norwegian, so there’s that connection, too.” 

Gabrielle said she has stressed that their clothing and record store aren’t related at all to what the song title might suggest.

“Some people, especially those not familiar with the song, seem to think we’re a woodworking shop,” she said. “They’re a little confused by the name. We like the feel of the song and the name of it.”

Even the store’s name and logo look like something out of the 70s – maybe even harkening back to the Woodstock era.

A little of this and a little of that, but something for everyone, Gabrielle said. 

The approximately 3,000-square-foot space they’re renting, she said, was a little intimidating at first.

“I wasn’t sure how we were going to fill it, but we’ve managed,” she said. “We thrifted a lot of comfy pieces of furniture from different places, giving shoppers plenty of places to sit and take a load off while they’re shopping. We don’t know where any of the furniture pieces came from originally, but they’re definitely from a different time and place. We wanted to incorporate old with new.”

The way the store is painted, decorated and furnished brings what they call “an eclectic, cozy, boho (bohemian) vibe to the river district.” 

What’s offered

As for what they sell, Gabrielle said the shop will have clothing for both women and men, as well as women’s shoes. 

“We sell new, sealed releases of vinyl records,” she said. “We also plan to sell home goods at some point, though right now, we only offer candles in the home goods category. Once our clothing inventory is built up, we’ll start carrying more home goods.”

The clothing – which is sourced from different places around the country – Gabrielle said, is all new and fits with the more trendy collections of today. 

“I would describe the clothing as trendy with some casual and some dressy pieces,” she said. “There’s a little bit of everything. I tend to dress differently like that – sometimes I wear heels and a shirt and a blazer; other times I wear jeans and a top. I have that and everything in between here.”

Gabrielle said if she had to compare their boutique to something most people would know, such as a big box retailer, Urban Outfitters comes to mind. 

“They also sell clothing, vinyl and home goods, but they’re a little edgier and crazier with their clothing than I am,” she said. “We do live in North Central Wisconsin, after all, and people here aren’t always interested in being at the top of the trends.” 

Another big-name retailer Gabrielle said she’d liken The Norwegian Wood to is an inexpensive Anthropologie.

“We’ve been hearing from a lot of customers so far that our prices are very reasonable,” she said. “That makes me feel good and is important for people to know because I think when people hear the word ‘boutique,’ they immediately think ‘expensive.’ We’re not at all expensive. We wouldn’t be able to compete, much less survive, if our prices were too high or out of line.” 

Gaining ground every day

Gabrielle said The Norwegian Wood capitalized on the annual Wausau Festival of Arts event – which took place Sept. 7-8 in downtown Wausau – by opening Sept. 6, pulling in folks who were setting up the event beforehand and festival-goers that entire weekend. 

“We’ve really been gaining some traction ever since then,” she said.

A couple of weeks after they opened, Gabrielle said they had a nice surprise when a group of 10-15 women popped into the store to continue a birthday celebration that had started earlier at the restaurant across the street. 

“We have a large sitting area for people to use while they’re shopping,” she said. “There’s a couch there and a couple of chairs. This group came in after eating dinner and tried on clothing and shoes, opened gifts, had dessert and drank champagne. It was so much fun, and they all had a blast – me, too.”  

The Norwegian Wood is complete with a record player which is always “spinning vinyl” – something Gabrielle said people really seem to enjoy.

“And if they find a vinyl they want to hear, we’ll spin it for them,” she said.  

The Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting at the store Oct. 10, giving it its official kick-off. 

Gabrielle said they plan to eventually build a website, along with an online store so people can buy clothes or records electronically. 

“We want to make sure it’s high-quality, rather than just throwing something together for the sake of having something online,” she said. “It also takes time to produce content for a website, especially when you’re selling items online. Right now, we’re making sure we are focused on marketing through social media, and making sure we have what the customers want.”

Gabrielle said they also want to find the right person to build a website for them, something else that can take time. 

“The women we’ve talked to also focus a lot on your branding and what you want your vibe to be, what your goals and values are as a store and that sort of thing,” she said. “They dig deep into it so they can really capture the essence of what you’re trying to achieve with your business. Hopefully, by January, we’ll be selling clothes and vinyl online.”

Located at 525 N. 3rd St., The Norwegian Wood is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Gabrielle said she plans to leave the hair salon at the end of January and be at the store full-time. 

At that point, she said the store hours would be expanded to include Tuesday and possibly even Monday. 

“Tristan works at UPS full-time but eventually would like to work in our business also,” she said. “Our 15-year-old daughter has recently started working at the store when she’s not in school. We really want to work together as a family – that’s our dream and end goal here.” 

The main thing the Shiers said they want people to know is that they are just a regular family that decided to take a leap of faith. 

“We absolutely love downtown Wausau and love being on Third Street,” she said. “We live close to here and were always downtown anyway. We are excited to have this store here, too. We wanted to add something cool and special and with a fun vibe to downtown Wausau – this is it.”

A basement bonus

Gabrielle said the shop sells used vinyls in the basement by Gary, “the Record Guy.” 

“Anyone who has been around Wausau for any length of time has undoubtedly heard of Gary,” she said. “Gary – whose real name is Gary Bombagi – loves classic vinyl and has been buying and collecting records his entire life.”

Gabrielle said at one time, Bombagi sold records out of his garage until a spot for him opened up at River District Antiques. 

“When the antique store closed in late July, Gary planned to go back to selling records out of his garage,” she said. “We approached him about renting some space in our store’s basement. We had known him from buying most of our records from him over the years and thought this could be a great option for all of us.”

Gabrielle said when Bombagi went to look at the space, he thought so, too.   

“He was really excited about bringing his collection of vinyl-plus over here,” she said. “It’s been really cool because a lot of people in Wausau know Gary, follow him and have purchased from him – whether from his garage or when he was at River District Antiques.”

Gabrielle said only about one-third of the basement is used for Gary’s Record Room, as it’s unofficially, but yet affectionately, has become known.

“It’s more than enough space to easily accommodate his 4,000-5,000 record collection, along with an impressive used CD collection he also sells,” she said. “The music he sells is eclectic and wide-ranging – everything from Metallica to christian rock to ABBA. To say he has anything and everything is no exaggeration.”