This business grew out of a financial need. Peggy my wife was by choice a stay at home mom. She contributed to the fiancés by wise money management and her hobby of buying and repairing used children’s clothes. She was brought up sewing her own clothes so she had a talent she used. Her reputation grew among friends because our girls were always beautifully dressed. So she started buying and fixing for others for a profit. 1990 I am finishing my degree in Business and have to make a business plan for my senior grad project. I chose my wife’s hobby.
Fast forward to 1998 and my wife’s reputation has grown exponentially. Also our oldest daughter was driving age and wanted her own car. In our house if you drive you pay your insurance and gas. That means you need a job. We got a business license, rented a location and opened a store call “Bloomingdeals” on a major street in town and hired our daughter to run the store while my wife found the merchandise and repaired it.
We also realized that baby furniture and large toys were great items to refurbish and sell at a discounted price but at a good margin. This is where I came in. I was really good and repairing and finishing things. I could in most cases bring them to near new condition, especially wood furniture. Business grew and our second daughter came of age, wanted a car and we hired her. This model worked for a couple of years. When our youngest daughter graduated from High School we hired some other friends to run the shop. We closed the shop a year or so after that. The young ladies we trained later on started their own enterprise using what they learned to create an even larger business without having a permanent location. They travelled from region to region selling the same types of items. My wife and I learned that we have an ability to create good business ideas, implement them and pass on that success to others. This was especially rewarding for my wife. For a long time she felt less important because she wasn’t a working professional like a lot of her friends and peers. This experience grew her self image and more than that she/we realized her hard work became a legacy. A legacy showing that hard work, quality, and great service still payoff.