WILL ANOTHER FREIGHTHOUSE HAVE TO BE BUILT TO HOUSE IT? >>>

First, how fun is the name Pip & Lola's?  I was hoping they were the real names of the folks behind Pip & Lola's Everything Homemade in Freighthouse Square. But, I knew different as our Valentine's Day cover story revealed. Bruce Story and Samantha Camp are their real names, while not as quaint, are still awesome. Hyphenated, they could be Camp-Story, and that's pretty fun.

"Pip and Lola are actually the nicknames of my 4- and 6-year-olds," laughs Camp, a soap maker who began creating - and selling - certain soaps to reflect the sensitive skin needs of her 4-year-old.

Second, and obviously more important than the name, is the fact that Pip & Lola's has just tipped the scale of handmade vendors to more than 50, which says more for the business than any name could. Also noteworthy is the fact that this expansion happened in less than a year. The business opened in July 2012 with just a dozen vendors.

"Isn't it crazy!? The whole thing has been a happy accident," says Camp.

She says her soap had been selling well, and she'd always been in love with Freighthouse Square. Camp says the landlord talked her and Story into two spaces. Camp asked her crafty friends on Facebook if they wanted to come play. Within a month, Pip & Lola's hit 20 vendors and had to tear down a wall.

"Obviously something like this was needed. We really try to make it a place for people to feel safe putting their products out there."

Currently, Pip & Lola's carries knit and crochet items, pottery, jewelry, wood turnings, stained and fused glass, BBQ rubs, chain mail jewelry and accessories, candles, young girls' dresses and skirts, synthetic hair pieces, blankets, paintings, cards, hand spun yarn, Camp's soaps and a whole lot more.

"It's the coolest thing in the world. The people that are making stuff love it - and the people that come in feel that love," she says.

They even have cabinets with products strictly for charity.

There is room for more vendors. Camp says she's looking for furniture and other everyday uses, as well as opportunities for taking or teaching craft classes in the store. For more information call 253.256.5660 or email pipandlola@gmail.com.

PIP & LOLA'S EVERYTHING HOMEMADE, 10 A.M. TO 7 P.M. MONDAY-SATURDAY, NOON TO 5 P.M. SUNDAY, FREIGHTHOUSE SQUARE, 430 E. 25TH ST., TACOMA, 253.256.5660