Indonesian Imports, owned by Barbara South and Kit Newkirk, has an impressive inventory that would please any decorator, and all at reasonable prices.
Located at the corner of West Washington and Jackson in Greencastle’s town square, the store offers hand-carved wooden pieces such as antique dowry chests, cabinets, jewelry boxes and teak wood lawn furniture as well as vibrantly colored textiles, pottery and eye-catching Indonesian puppets. Indonesian Imports also provides its shoppers with culturally significant items such as antique dowry chests that might have been once used by a girl’s family as a container of gifts for her betrothed’s family.
In addition, Indonesian Imports boasts a collection of ancient Chinese containers sold to the owners by Lee and Susan Stewart. These impressive pieces, 75 to 100 years old and once used for bath water or to make tea, add another dimension to the store’s already beautiful display of items.
South and Newkirk’s inventory once resided in a store in Roachdale, Indiana. When the store closed, the items were simply left behind, South explained—something she didn’t let stand for very long. Determined to give the inventory the home it deserved, South purchased it from the original owner.
While South has a background in sales as the owner of a handmade clothing store, and Newkirk as the owner of several stores over the last 25 years, the establishment of the store also has roots in the owners’ community ties. The location downtown came easily to South, a social worker in Greencastle, and Newkirk, the director of the Putnam County Museum.
As involved members of their community, the two saw that, as South said, “a lot of things are going on downtown…and we wanted to be a part of that.”
Indonesian Imports is located at 2 W. Washington St., and its hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, or by appointment.