Faces of Sunriver

West of the Moon owners John and Elizabeth Bokish met while going to Portland State University and had every intention to continue on to get their masters’ degrees. Instead, after graduation, the young couple thought it sounded like a better idea to head to Taxco, Mexico’s silver capital, buy a small bag of jewelry and try their hand at selling in Portland.

“We sold it in a kiosk in Yamhill Market in Portland. Within a week, we were entirely sold out,” John recalled.

This was their first experience in wholesale, so it was largely a learning experience.

“It really just started as a hobby. We had so much fun and were able to travel,” John observed. Once the couple saw how quickly the jewelry was selling, they headed back to Taxco and returned with even more. They opened up a retail shop, adding other items from Mexico as well. By this point, the two had been to Mexico at least 15 times.

“We started the entire business with just a few hundred dollars,” John recalled. “Now, we’ve been to Mexico well over 100 times.”

Thirty years later, after owning 12 Signature Imports (now West of the Moon), the Bokish’s have downsized to four stores, all in Oregon: Portland on Northwest 23rd, Cannon Beach, Seaside and Sunriver.

“It became difficult for the ma n’ pa organizations to keep up with the demand for products, so we scaled down,” John explained. The new, catchy name — West of the Moon — is the namesake of some other small boutiques they owned 15 years ago.

West of the Moon’s business philosophy is direct trade and the fact that every one of their products comes with a story.

“What sets us apart is that the products we sell go directly from the hands that make them to us,” John explained, adding that oftentimes, if an employee is not certain of the history and story behind a product, he will get a phone call from that employee.

“I can tell you the story about any product in our store, ” he said.

Along with their strong relationships they maintain with the different artisans and producers (the Bokish’s are even godparents to a family in Peru), West of the Moon has a donation jar in each store. John and Elizabeth select an orphanage or village that has specific needs, and 100% of the funds raised go toward this cause. The stores recently raised money to purchase more mattresses and musical instruments for an orphanage in Bali, an Indonesian island. The director of this orphanage teaches children traditional dance and music, which is a strong part of Indonesian culture.

“This is not a lost art at all. If a child does not end up going to college, they support themselves on music and dance,” John said.

While the Bokish’s started with purchasing directly from Mexico, they branched out to Central and South America, and now purchase from about 13 different countries including Africa, Indonesia and Guatemala. Although they used to travel about four to five months out of the year, they are now only gone about two months out of the year.

John and Elizabeth have three kids, all of whom traveled with them growing up and are fluent in Spanish. Their daughter, Natalia Bokish, owns Tumbleweed Toys in The Village at Sunriver.

Opening up a store in Sunriver all began when the couple visited Black Butte Ranch back in the early 1990s. They said they fell in love with the weather and a location where “a river runs through it.” A year later, they purchased a space in the The Village at Sunriver, and recently moved into a larger, renovated location.

John said he feels so fortunate to be a part of The Village at Sunriver.

“We have wonderful owners and management in place. It is such a great vacation destination. … We want to be a part of it, make people feel good and leave with a smile on their face.”