Oakville’s Nancy Mitchell, a vibrant septuagenarian, is a true cowgirl, right down to her colorful cowboy hat and enormous, shiny belt buckle. Born and raised in South Dakota, Nancy now owns Cactus Alice and Country Feathers in Centralia, a charmingly eccentric shop filled with everything a cowboy or cowgirl could desire, from secondhand boots of all sizes and rustic Western décor and furniture to meticulously decorated toy horses. Previously located in Yardbirds, there is something for everyone at this delightful Western-themed store.
Meet Cactus Alice
Nancy, who’d spent many years in the saddle showing and training horses, traded her reins for a different kind of craft. Her journey to becoming a shop owner started when she began decorating lampshades as gifts. “Pretty soon, I was hauling more lampshades than I was horses,” she says. “And lampshades, you don’t have to feed them, and they don’t get sick. So, it just kind of evolved.”
Eventually, those lampshades grew into a whole heap of country-style goods, so much so that Nancy was hauling them around the country in a massive trailer. She set up shop at rodeos and horse shows, becoming a familiar face to folks from one end of the trail to the other. By the early 2000s, Nancy and two of her closest friends hit the road together, forming “The Good Old Girls Horse Company.”
Referencing the old sitcom “Alice,” the trio began calling each other by the name Alice. “To kind of mess with people at these sales and whatnot, we called each one of us Alice,” Nancy shares. “So, we had three Alices.”
“The cactus part got added because cactuses are kind of prickly on the outside, but pretty mushy on the inside. That would be me,” Nancy adds with a laugh. “Cactus Alice just kind of stuck, and it’s been that way for 25 years or so, at least.”
Lewis County’s New and Used Boots, Toy Horses and Western Décor
Every cowboy or cowgirl needs a sturdy pair of boots, and at Cactus Alice and County Feathers, Nancy offers boots of all sizes in more affordable options than new, even for the little buckaroos in your life.
“I mean, parents can’t go wrong,” Nancy says. “I keep them cheap enough so that they can afford them because they know they’re going to outgrow them. It’s cheaper than a pair of tennis shoes and better for their feet.”
One of Nancy’s many creative endeavors is refurbishing used wood furniture with a Western flair. Explore the many one-of-a-kind pieces in the shop, embellished with metal and leather accents, decoupage animals, and even scorched by a torch with fun country designs by Nancy’s own hand.
“I like doing furniture, and consequently, I have a barn full of used furniture, but we’ll get to it,” she says. “Good furniture is getting hard to find. It really is. When I say real wood, I don’t mean particle board or pressed board with veneer. I mean pine, oak, maple, cherry, you name it, and metal. I like metal too.”
Another way Nancy shares her artistic side is by embellishing toy horses — think Breyer Horses meets My Little Pony.
“I set them up in the workshop on a rainy day and have eight or ten of them lined up,” she says. “And as an idea hits you, it’s like they kind of tell me what color they want to be and that sort of thing. I buy them used, fix their manes, and they end up with little things attached to them, like a little brand and a little rope. That’s one of the things I enjoy the most.”
Cactus Alice and County Feathers as a Community Space in Centralia
With a goal of having fun and providing a more affordable option for boots, clothes, and toys, Nancy also shares her space with her friends, MG and June Blankenship of Winlock’s Crafty Sisters. Visitors can often find June in the shop, working on her latest jewelry design, or in East Lewis County as a pop-up vendor at events, selling her hand-sewn goods and other crafts.
Nancy, being a self-proclaimed old-school type, tips her hat to her good friend, Leah Savoy, for wrangling all the technological parts of running a business. “She’s the one who does all the computer stuff for me because I just got rid of my flip phone,” she says. “I do animals, not technology. I’m just not interested. You know, I’m old enough that I was raised with a ballpoint pen.”
Nancy, with stories for days, is one of those unforgettable characters. She’s a natural-born salesperson, plain and simple, able to charm the spurs right off a cowboy. So, rein in your horse and stop by to meet Cactus Alice yourself! You can boot-scoot on out with a new pair of boots, find something truly wonderful for your homestead, or rustle up a unique gift.
“I would like the community to feel comfortable stopping by the store to make a purchase or not,” Nancy says. “Come in and visit and enjoy our efforts to make Cactus Alice and Country Feathers a fun destination.”
Cactus Alice and Country Feathers is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and is closed on Sunday and Monday. However, anytime you see the door open, feel free to mosey on in.
“I would really like folks to know this store is a fun and wholesome place to shop,” Nancy says. “We have such a variety of new and used items, we feel we can help with most any ideas they have. I have concentrated a big part of the store on the Western lifestyle. After all, everybody loves a cowboy!”
Cactus Alice and Country Feathers
108 W. Walnut Street, Centralia
564.204.7548
