Melissa Hatcher, 32, isn’t just the new owner of downtown Fairhaven’s Adored Boutique—she’s a legacy.
Since Adored opened in August 2020, Hatcher has worked by the side of former owner Bridget Knutson. Helping to start up a new business during the peak of the pandemic, Hatcher was expecting the hard stuff while solely managing the boutique, but she wasn’t expecting a blast from the past.
It wasn’t until after Knutson signed the lease for Adored’s spot in the Schering building that Hatcher realized their boutique’s new place of residence was the very same storefront her great-grandfather had rented 65 years previous.
Photograph courtesy of Melissa Hatcher
“The Fairhaven location felt like the perfect home for Adored Boutique because of its charming atmosphere, its strong sense of community,” Hatcher says. “It was really special when we realized that my family’s boat business once began here.”
In 1955, Frank Wright, Hatcher’s great-grandfather, began Wright Manufacturing Co., building fiberglass boats.
According to Hatcher, Wright rented Adored’s location along with the neighboring storefront presently occupied by Babygreens. The two were joined by a hole in the brick, with boats being built on one side and passed through to the other for storage.
Throughout the years, Wright ran the boat company, bringing his four sons into work with him: Ronald, Bud, Dennis, and David, Hatcher’s grandfather.
“When my great-grandpa passed, the boys took over,” Hatcher says. “It just worked its way through the men in the family.”
Photograph courtesy of Melissa Hatcher
While the company has changed names and exchanged hands over the years, today it’s known as Northwest Marine Industries, and is still based in Bellingham. Family members Mark Wright and Ryan Binning are two of the four owners. The company produces fiberglass boats like the Sea Sport, and boasts that its “66 uninterrupted years” makes it the “longest running fiberglass boat manufacturing company in the United States.”After learning of her family’s connection to the location, Hatcher took to learning everything she could about the Wrights’ little slice of history in Fairhaven.
“Both my dad and my grandpa brought me photos because they could see how intrigued I was,” she says.
With her grandpa in particular, who worked out of the company’s location before Sea Sports’ move, it was especially important to share in the history of the space.
“After we did our remodel, I brought my grandma and grandpa in the shop… it brought back a lot of good memories for them,” she says. “They’re excited that now I get to be here making even more memories in my own business.”
Photograph courtesy of Melissa Hatcher
Hatcher counts herself lucky to have had a close relationship with her grandpa, who passed away in November 2021.
“He was always there for my big moments,” Hatcher explains. “When Adored opened… it was very risky for someone his age to go out and go to events like an opening day at a business, but he still came to support me, and just showed me how much he believed in me and the dream I was building.”
Now, as the new owner of Adored, Hatcher hopes to keep her family legacy alive and to create a space that brings people together.
Photograph courtesy of Melissa Hatcher
“My goal is to make Adored a place where our community can connect, shop, and feel inspired,” she says.
913 Harris Ave., Bellingham, shopadoredboutique.com
