Sharp & Co.

My first car was a refrigerated flower-shop delivery truck. I didn't drive it to school, but I could be seen going to the mall or my friend's houses in it, and for some reason, I wasn't too embarrased about it. I didn't LOVE it, but it was better than walking.

Now the reason I had access to a flower shop truck is because my mom owned a flower shop called Bloomers. I worked there after school and on weekends doing deliveries and occasional counter help until I graduated to REAL jobs selling shoes at Joske's and developing film at Fox Photo.

My mom sold the shop five years ago to go into Real Estate, and I have really missed it since then. But it seemed like the right decision at the time for my mom.

Well, imagine my surprise when she announced two months ago that she was buying it back! It was being sold once again and she wanted it. The Real Estate market is not going very well so she has some free time, and this time around she plans to have a manager to run it for her instead of doing it herself.

There was quite a bit of debate in my family about what the name should be. I loved the old name of "Bloomers" but my mom and dad wanted to start fresh. The name BJ's (which is the initials of my mom and dad, Brenda and Jim) left a funny taste in my mouth (pun intended). They finally settled for Sharp & Co.

The purchase was made very quickly, and the next thing to do before opening day was spruce the place up a bit. Now this part is where my mom really shines.

As you can see, the walls were a very fresh green. I helped pick that color 20 years ago, but it isn't working anymore so that will be the first to go.


Note the clutter. That will go, too.


Everything you see including the tables and shelves will be used, but they will look completly different with just a can of paint.


Here is the first round of updates! This is taken from the same vantage point as the one above, just 3 days later. Huge improvement, huh?


This is my mom, showing me a sample of fabric for the next round of changes and getting my opinion. I REALLY enjoy giving my opinion about decorating stuff. I once made the decorating choices at the bank where I worked, and the last time I checked everything was still the same.



Ta da! This is how it looks now, after being open for one month. The view here is almost the same view as the first image above.


This is how it looks from the front door, if you turn your head to the right.


And if you take three steps forward and then look left, this is what you'll see. Snazzy.


So here's the 411. The shop is located in Converse, at the same location as always but under a new name. The manager's name is Paul, and he is a fab designer.

This is Paul:


This is one of his fab designs:


My mom's name is Brenda, and she'll be working there almost daily until things are rolling along. She'd love it if you stopped by and took a look around.

Ya know, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't know if they have a delivery truck or not. My daughter D is almost old enough to drive, maybe she'd be interested? On second thought, maybe not.