My Biz: Business blooms at half-garden, half-yarn shop

After Cheryl Sheeley's Garden Wren store - the half floral shop, half knitters haven she'd opened in Palo in 2004 - was flooded out in 2008, she moved her floral arranging work into her home studio. That's easy to do when you have a walk-in floral cooler at home.

She also managed to salvage her yarn, but it sat boxed up for years.

“I never thought I'd open a retail store again,” she admitted.

But, Sheeley said, “As the NewBo district (in Cedar Rapids) continued to develop, I thought it was the perfect fit for the artistic space I was looking for.”

She moved the Garden Wren into the Cherry Building in September 2011 and is happy as a lark - er, wren.

The majority of her floral business is designing for weddings and corporate events. In her boutique, however, she does offer ready-to-go bouquets.

While the area is blooming with talented florists, Sheeley said, she enjoys filling a niche with her “garden-y, woodsy, natural” style of flower arranging. “We like to incorporate yarn elements or textures into our bouquets,” she added.

The Garden Wren also offers a variety of knitting classes for all levels of students. In the store, customers can shop for high-end yarn and knitting accessories.

Sheeley herself started knitting in third grade and has been hooked ever since.

“Being the sole employee and business owner, you wear all the hats,” she said. “There are the details of paperwork, accounting, marketing and customer service, and I have to balance that with the creative side of inventing new designs.”

Sheeley knows the Garden Wren is a bit of a best-kept secret.

“All of our business is word of mouth,” she said. “Our customers feel like it's a discovery when they come in here.

“Our motto is a little magic every day. When people come in here, that is what they experience.”

• Name: Cheryl Sheeley
• Title: Owner and designer
• Company: The Garden Wren
• Address: 329 10th Ave. SE, Suite 126, Cedar Rapids
• Phone: (319) 241-9987
• Website: www.thegardenwren.com

Know a manager or company in business for more than a year that would be ideal for “My Biz”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net.