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TOWN TOPIC S
Val and Ray Talbert search for crystals and gems to adorn the
planters and candle holders they will be selling at Tal & Bert in
Dormont.

“We wanted to create modern homewares
that incorporated rare stones … and display
them in a functional design piece,” says Val.

“As we were playing around with different de-
signs, I dropped a planter and it cracked …
that’s how our iconic craft look happened.”
Their bejeweled concrete planters, which
they only just started making in February, are
going to be featured in Real Simple magazine
in December—the latest in a series of national
media mentions from CNN to Pop Sugar. Until
now, the business operated online out of the
Tal & Bert studio space on Washington Road
in Mt. Lebanon, in addition to a growing dis-
tribution network, which includes more than
200 stores nationwide.

Now the Talberts have big plans for their
new brick-and-mortar storefront in Dormont.

With a focus on handmade and minority-
owned brands, they will sell their planters
alongside various kitchen and bath items,
throw rugs and blankets, jewelry, wall hang-
ings, soaps and baskets.

Inside the shop, they have created a chic,
minimalistic vibe. When the pandemic begins
to subside, they intend to set up a “Plant It”
bar, which allows customers to build their own
terrariums using air plants, succulents, cac-
tuses and crystals inside a Tal & Bert planter,
or any of the other makers’ pots that will be
available in the shop.

Until the store opens, you can check them
out online at www.talandbert.com, on Etsy or
on their Facebook page, where they’re using
the tagline, “Move over Anthropologie. Tal &
Bert is coming through!” —KATIE WAGNER
[NEW BUSINESS]
Mining for Business
ots of businesses start as a hobby. You
enjoy brewing? Open a brewery. Bak-
ing? Open a bakery. Tal & Bert, opening
this month in the former Moonstones loca-
tion on West Liberty Avenue in Dormont, is
no different, but the hobby it grew from is
uncommon. “We’re recreational miners,” says Val Tal-
bert, who owns the business with her hus-
band, Ray. “There are tons of public mines
operated by families who have owned them
for years, or companies, who open up their
land to the general public and allow you to
mine on their property for the different miner-
als that they have.”
Val and Ray met in college here in Pitts-
burgh. Val is from Bucks County, and remem-
bers rock hunting with her parents when she
was a kid. She introduced Ray, a Pittsburgh
native, to recreational mining when they were
dating, and now they dig and excavate crystal
pockets in quarries and underground mines
all around the country. They most recently ex-
cavated Herkimer diamonds at a mine in New
York. “They are technically quartz, but the
properties mimic diamonds,” says Val.

Find Tal & Bert products online at
www.talandbert.com. lebomag.com | 17