Illingworth’s

We have a vacation home on the Oregon Coast, visiting Newport several times each year. I frequently shop at Illingworth’s. In the past, I’ve purchased baby items, jewelry, cards, gifts, and ladies scarves. The shop is owned by two women, Tina & Andrea. Their selection is fairly nice, pricing typical for a touristy beach town. I do like the Nye Beach area & the variety of shops, bookstores and cafes. It is very quaint, although this shop doesn’t stand out as spectacular. My negative review is a result of my interest and attempt to purchase a vintage display item in the store which was marked for sale. I inquired about the price with one of the partners and was quoted a 10% discount off of the asking price, but referred to the other partner for further information. A few weeks later, when we returned to the area, I phoned the shop to inquire about the piece, but had to leave a message. I never heard back and phoned them again, when we returned home, the first week in January. I spoke with Andrea who informed me the price would no longer be discounted, that she was far too busy to measure the piece (now or ever) and refused to answer any additional questions. She said the shop didn’t care if they sold it or not, and if I wanted it, I would need to come in to obtain any measurements or information I needed. I explained the distance of my home, made it impossible for me to drive over 5 hours to measure it. She then exclaimed that the piece was now, no longer for sale and proceeded to hang up on me. It was shockingly unprofessional to treat a customer offering to pay hundreds of dollars for an item displayed for sale in this manner. If the owners changed their minds about selling the item, they should just remove the pricing and admit that to any interested parties. I can’t imagine they will stay in business much longer with these kind of practices! Coastal shops depend on customer loyalty to weather the off-​season, slow sales, and are usually willing to accommodate customer inquiries. Illingworth’s will no longer have this customer, nor anyone I can convince to avoid this negative establishment!

Had a hard time finding this shop on Unilocal because I kept looking for Illingsworth’s. It’s Illingworth’s by the Sea. Right up from the parking lot at Nye Beach, this gift shop is in a very walkable area of Newport with lots of great shops and restaurants.
This is essentially a gift shop for women. Lots of cute things, arranged in darling ways on vintage furniture and in handsome displays, this a great place to pick up a little something for a friend you might be visiting or want to bring a gift. While there’s more «made in China» stuff than I like, there are also handmade and locally made items.
It’s not so much the items that catches your eye, though, as the arrangements and the suggestions for what can be done with things. Which is what makes it such a great gift shop. You’ll be attracted to a section — kitchen, jewelry, bath, etc. and then find yourself discovering all kinds of neat things in that theme.
They have cute little gift bags with their logo on a sticker and it in itself makes fine packaging. The idea of the gift coming from a store by the sea is romantic all on it’s own.