A new business in Marysville opened its doors for the first time on Saturday, Nov. 25. The Bellwether, with its slogan: “Curate where you dwell,” is the brainchild of Kimberley’s Celeste Needham.
Before this venture, Needham opened Talaria Footwear and Adornment in the Platzl in 2015. A resident of Kimberley for 12 years, Needham has been witness to the progression the business community has undergone in that time period.
“When I opened the shoe store, people told me ‘Good luck,’” Needham reflected. “And there wasn’t a lot going on in the Platzl at the time.
“It was a positive experience and people were really engaged and really excited and I think it really just took people seeing that there was possibility and engaged in that possibility and then more people got on board, but that’s the same thing I see in Marysville.”
She added she’s been saying for over five years that were she to open another business, it would be in Marysville.
Needham has a degree in interior design and worked in that field for over a decade before moving into wellness. This is where the yoga component of the store comes in. Needham used to own Bodhi Tree, a very popular yoga studio in Calgary. Her business partner Sasha Bahador runs and instructs at the yoga studio attached to the Bellwether.
The full name of the business is “The Bellwether Curated Home and Kula Yoga and Sacred Space.”
“The concept of the whole place is your inner health and your outer health,” Needham said. “Curating where you dwell and living intentionally.”
The store, Needham said, is full of unique finds. Everything in it has a story and is there intentionally.
“It’s filled with things to help you live with quality, things that are timeless — iconic finds,” she said. “The other thing that I want for people to know is that this is just a starting point, because everything happened so quickly.”
Quickly is an understatement. Needham said she didn’t actually know for sure that she was going to do this specific venture until May 2023, but signed a lease in June and started building in July.
She has a lot of plans for the space, including bringing in carpets and hardware, as she mentioned quality hardware can be difficult to track down in rural small towns.
“Hardware is one of those things that’s hard to find here, if you can only buy at Home Depot or Home Hardware. “There’s a world of possibility when it comes to having options in lighting and hardware, all kinds of different things. I’m wanting to bring options into town.”
The Bellwether is located at 454 304 St. It celebrated its grand opening with a live painting from Kimberley artist Colleen Friesen, that was auctioned off with all proceeds donated to the Helping Hands Food Bank, followed by a small gathering and cocktail hour in the evening.
You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram as well as their website thebellether.online