My Biz: Frame shop owner enjoys the variety

By Katie Mills Giorgio, correspondent

Name: Scott Wiley

Title: Owner, framer

Company: Apple Creek Custom Framing

Address: 622 Center Point Rd., Cedar Rapids

Phone: (319) 373-6681

Website: http://applecreekcustomframing.com/

Elevator speech: Would I hang that on my wall?

“If there's a speck of dust in that frame when it's finished,” Scott Wiley said, “I'll take it all apart and start over.

“And I'm a fanatic about getting corners just perfect. With every project I am asking myself if I would have that hanging on my wall.”

Wiley is the owner and sole framer at Apple Creek Custom Framing in Cedar Rapids, where he's framed everything from art and mirrors to TVs and computer screens. That variety is a big part of what he enjoys about his job.

“Part of the fun of this job is the huge array of things people bring me,” he said.

In relating to customer, he notes that “I really have to change colors like a chameleon. Each person who walks through the door has a different personality, and I have to be ready to adjust and adapt.

“Everyone has a different way of explaining what they want or how they want the finished product to look.”

A self-proclaimed hometown boy, Wiley is a photographer by trade who became interested in framing while working at a photo lab in the early 1990s. He decided to give it a try and went to school in Minneapolis at Larson Juhl, a world-renowned molding company, to learn his craft.

“I've been doing this now for 18 years,” Wiley said.

After working for other photo labs and frame shops since 1993, he purchased Apple Creek Custom Framing in 2006. He sells not only custom framing but also home décor pieces and a large selection of Hawkeye art.

Apple Creek Custom Framing was actually started 25 years ago locally and has moved around to several locations - from Lindale Mall, Collins Road and Council Street - before finding its current home on Center Point Road near Coe College.

“When I decided to rent this place I thought, let's get this place back to where it was. By moving in and creating a new storefront, I hope maybe it will spark more people to fill the vacancies and get this neighborhood back to life.”

Wiley enjoys the flexibility of owning his own business.

“I start the morning running errands and doing paperwork,” he said. “I also don't like clutter and there is never ending dusting and cleaning.”

Wiley may be a one-man show during business hours, but he relies heavily on the support of family and friends.

“Since taking over here, I have had a ton of support from my sisters and brothers-in-law,” he said. “I couldn't have done it without them,” he said.