Find Your Fashion Owner Barb Scoggins recalls making a request for improved signage as far back as 4 years ago when Ferndale City Mayor Jon Mutchler, then a councilmember, would periodically come in to her store and ask, “What can I do for you?” Scoggins said her response was always the same, “Improve signage so people driving past on I-5 know that Ferndale and Ferndale businesses are here.”
Since then, Washington State Department of Transportation has updated the roadside signs along southbound I-5 north of Ferndale to include missing references to Ferndale. Ferndale Community Development Director Jori Burnett was not certain when the change occurred but guessed it was sometime in the past year.
Also, Burnett says, the City of Ferndale is developing a plan to implement a system of wayfinding signs throughout the city. These signs are expected to assist both drivers and pedestrians in locating popular destinations such as the Pioneer Park Cabins, parks and shopping. The list of prospective destinations to be included is still being developed.
The sign system will be funded using a grant from the Port of Bellingham and matching funds from the city. “We are utilizing a basic approach taken by Merje Design … and expect to present [a design] to the City Council within the next few months for a discussion,” Burnett said in an email.
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Click for more informationScoggins said she hoped the city’s new wayfinding signs will also serve to help locals discover and better appreciate shopping opportunities available here in Ferndale.
Scoggins says after running Find Your Fashion and Find Your Fashion Again for the past 7 years she has come to realize most of her customers have come from outside the area. “Folks new to Ferndale find us right away. It’s the folks that have lived here for a long time that don’t explore new businesses in Ferndale that are missing out,” she said. “I had a gal in recently who has lived out on Portal Way for years. She walked in slowly, with eyes bugged out, asking me, ‘And why didn’t I know about this place?!’ This is what we are up against. She loved the store and has sent several more new people in as well.” Scoggins added, “I have far more customers coming from Birch Bay, Semiahmoo, Blaine, Lynden & Bellingham than [from Ferndale].”
