November 23, 2007

By SUE RYAN
News staff writer

Finding Zella in Hood River is a bit like the shopping scenes in the Harry Potter movies.

The new shoes and accessories store can be discovered by peeking down a cobblestone courtyard next to Doppio coffee shop on Oak Street.

The space is part of the former bank building that previously housed the International Museum of Carousel Art.

Above Zella’s entrance hangs a simple but inviting sign of a red metal shoe that appears as if it comes from a fairy tale.

Co-owners and sisters Christin Casperson and Cheri Hill wanted the store to give the feel of magical wonder, of the dress-up and pretend playtime of childhood.

“I wanted the feeling to be like your grandmother’s closet,” Casperson said.

She chose the name Zella for partly that reason: She and her sister had a great aunt Zella they used to visit in the Midwest when they were children.

Zella lived in a tiny house behind the house of another great aunt. Casperson recalled that Zella, a schoolteacher, never married but had a wooden hope chest full of her wedding trousseau.

“She let us take these beautiful silk dresses and clothes from the 1920s and dress up,” she said.

Casperson has been in sales for 20 years, splitting her time between fashion and the high-tech industry. When she moved to Hood River four years ago, it was because of her family here but also because she loved the area.

“I wanted to combine creativity with business and be a part of the community,” she said.

Tired of the travel involved with her sales job and because she loves shoes, Casperson decided to pursue opening her own business by starting up Zella.

“Mainly, I’m here for moral support but I’ll be helping in the shop as my children, Bodi and Lily, get older,” said her sister, Hill.

The store carries brands that make one want to kick up their heels including the Danish line of Sanita, the original Dansko clog producer, and more.

Because of her sister’s beliefs in social responsibility and eco-consciousness, Casperson chose as well to offer shoes that appeal to vegans or for customers who don’t want to buy leather or mass-market lines.

“There is Sidewalk, which is hand-made in California,” she said. “There is also Tsonga.”

This line comes from women of the Tsonga tribe in Africa. Casperson said the fact that the women are learning a trade is one fact that convinced her to carry the brand. But also that they are paid two times the minimum wage in an impoverished area and their children are taken care of while the women work.