Santa Cruz Sentinel

Cooperative store Slow Coast consolidated its Davenport Airstream Store with its store in Pescadero at the end of 2019, according to cofounder J. Nichols.

Slow Coast was founded in 2003 after the Nichols family took a slow and deliberate 1,200 mile journey along the coast from Oregon to Mexico. The Nichols named the 50-mile stretch of the Pacific coastline from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz the “Slow Coast” because it was the opposite of the fast-paced Silicon Valley, according to Nichols.

After the trek, J. Nichols and his wife Dana Nichols opened the Airstream store in Davenport, a store in a 1954 Airstream trailer at 450 Highway 1, to support local farmers and artisans. The products Slow Coast sells include local pottery, coffee and books from regional authors. Slow Coast also raises funds for [The Pacific School] organic school lunch program and carries products that benefit ocean conservation and reforestation.

J. Nichols said the company moved everything from the Airstream Store to its Pescadero store at 251 Stage Road. While it was “great to be in Davenport” and Slow Coast received a lot of support from the community, the company made this transition to consolidate operations and make business more efficient. The Pescadero store is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

One of the struggles of the Airstream Store was the lack of cell service, J. Nichols said, which stopped people from visiting. But when travelers and local residents did come to the store, it served as an information booth about the area, as well as a school for artisans to figure out how to sell their work, he said.

Slow Coast will keep its online store in operation during the transition, Nichols said.