There are probably a few people out there who don’t love a good pot pie, but we haven’t found them yet. Bryce Sharp and Nathan Lowe have made a business of them at Man Pies in Bellingham. The entrepreneurial spirit abounds in these two, including a love of building, making and inventing things. Bryce had traveled to Australia and discovered that pot pies can are sold everywhere. Interested in doing the same, he came back and grabbed Nathan to build their pie shop together.
Nathan’s do-it-yourself attitude goes back a few years. He remembers, “I was an overachiever in 8th grade shop. While the other kids were making fish bats, I was bringing home compound bows and kayaks I had made.”
One prime example of their creativity is the ‘Safe Table.’ Bryce tells the story, “There used to be a safe where the bathroom is now. We had a guy come drill it out. The guy thought that we wanted to save the safe’s door, so he didn’t drill it into pieces like the rest of the safe and set it aside for us,” Bryce said. “We didn’t know what to do with it. I joked around with Nathan saying that we should take the extra wood from making our prep tables along with some legs, and have the safe’s door be the bottom of the table. Nathan said ‘Dude, we should do it!’” It’s now a functional table for their customers.
They bought almost everything for their pie shop, Man Pies, that opened in July of 2010 in downtown Bellingham from second hand stores or on the web. Many of those items came from The RE Store. “Our biggest reason, to be honest, was cost,” Bryce said. Utilizing The RE Store meant that, “I could buy and install it myself and have to sell thousands less of cups of soup a day to pay it off,” said Bryce. “We went almost everyday and if we didn’t, we wouldn’t have all the pieces we have today.”
Their hot holding display case was a prime example of The RE Store’s synchronicity that many have experienced. “We heard that it came from Seattle. It sat at the Bellingham store for three days and we couldn’t pass it up,” Bryce said. “After we painted one of our walls, we found the display case and interestingly enough, it matched the paint on the wall! It was the deal of the century.” This happened many more times for the pie-crafting handymen during their start-up phase.
The prep table legs and additional support was all made from reclaimed lumber. Nathan related, “The legs and other parts came from lumber pieces that are banded onto plywood stacks when they are shipped. I cut them down on my table saw, planed them and made them up into tables for our kitchen.”
And how could we visit without eating? The crust was perfectly flaky and the filling was delicious and moist while fully holding together in your hand. Friendly ladies help you with a smile and they even sell gluten free pies. You can’t go wrong with the food or the decor in this compact little pot pie haven on Railroad Avenue.
Recycled materials for building Man Pies included: lighting, fixtures, sinks, hot holding display case, veneered solid wood door, plumbing, wiring, nuts and bolts, filing cabinets, heating ducts, base board molding, and other random needed materials.