At Freestone we are passionate about the way food can bring people together - especially when it’s rooted in our community.
Why the name Freestone?
free·stone ˈfrē-ˌstōn
a type of river originating high in the mountains.
trickles of snowmelt come together to form a small creek which flows down and gathers with other inputs from smaller creeks; creating larger streams and eventually growing into large rivers.
Freestone is a collective of many moving parts coming together to form something bigger for the community we love.
The Long Story…
The Freestone Collective was formed in partnership by two local small businesses, David & Meghan Schumacher of Arête Coffee Bar & Ally Thompson of Alpine Baked Goods.
In order for Ally to start her Granola & Baking business in 2020, she needed to bake her products in a licensed commercial kitchen per the WSDA food processors license guidelines. Since the start of Alpine Baked Goods, she has rented kitchen space from a coffee shop in Woodinville after being unable to find a space closer to home. She continued to ask around in hopes of eventually moving her production to The Valley.
David & Meghan opened Arête Coffee Bar in Winter of 2022 to the North Bend community with warm reception. While sourcing items for their cafe, they would occasionally be asked by vendors if they knew of any kitchen space that was available to rent in the area. They would try to give them ideas on businesses with commercial kitchens to reach out to and deeply desired to help out and support them in finding a space.
Ally met Meghan & David shortly after they opened Arête and began supplying them with Granola while becoming a frequent customer too! Over time they began to have many conversations surrounding the need for a designated commercial kitchen or “commissary kitchen” rental space in The Valley.
All aligned in June of 2023 when Ally purchased some ovens to put in storage for “someday when I have my own space” and a subsequent comment in passing made to Meghan by Ally “Hey, did you see that space for lease in Snoqualmie?” and the rest is, as they say, history.