My Biz: Gooselake Creations owner stocks eclectic furniture and decor

Jeffrey Gerlits was 11 years old when he attended his first auction.

'My mother said I always liked beautiful things, so as a young man I started going to auctions with my parents and I started buying,” he said. 'And then it turned into a business because I had so much stuff. I had the opportunity to rent a shop from a friend, and I have been in retail ever since.”

Last year, Gerlits opened Gooselake Creations in downtown Cedar Rapids. Before that, he had a space at NewBo City Market.

'I like the front window in this location, and the fact that this really is a second hand type of neighborhood,” he said of his shop on Third Avenue SE.

Gerlits uses the term 'chic shabby” to describe his shop's contents. The eclectic collection of furniture and décor constantly changes. Repainted and refurbished desks, chests, tables, coffee tables and chairs share space with items such as a vintage beauty parlor perm machine, or a free-standing sculpture created from aged barbed wire.

'I like the unique and funky,” Gerlits said.

Gerlits developed his painting style while working in the Denver, Colo. area. He was selling walnut and oak furniture at the time, but when the antique market took a nose dive in the 1990s, he started to see people walking out of the flea markets 'with this white furniture.”

'And I decided if you can't beat them, you join them,” he said, 'but I painted my furniture black, so I stuck out among all that white.” From there, he began working with designers in the area and continued to fine tune his look.

'People come into my shop and are curious about some of these old and interesting pieces,” he said. 'It raises their curiosity and it creates stories as they remember some of this stuff, and it helps them relax.”

He draws a broad range of ages to his shop, something Gerlits enjoys very much.

'I have everybody you could imagine,” he said, 'from an eight-year old girl who came in with her mother and her allowance money, to people on disability who can only come in at the first of the month, to people who could buy everything in the store and it wouldn't even make a dent for them.”

He credits his success to fair pricing and respect for those who walk into the shop.

'You let people shop at their own will,” he continued, 'and let them have their own space to explore.”

'I buy low and I sell fair,” he added, 'and I don't go up on my prices.”

'I'm not a horse trader. I want that eight-year-old customer and the 75-year old woman who is on a fixed income.”

Gooselake Creations hosts a happy hour every Thursday evening based on a theme. At a recent movie night themed happy hour, popcorn and root beer were served to shoppers.

' Know a company in business for more than a year that would make an ideal My Biz? Contact Francie Williamson at francie.williamson@thegazette.com

AT A GLANCE

Owner: Jeffrey Gerlits

Business: Gooselake Creations

Address: 705 3rd Ave SE, Cedar Rapids, IA

Phone: (563) 320-1190

Website: www.Facebook.com/gooselakecreations