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Once seen, never forgotten. That’s
the slogan for DeLeon’s newest business -- The Scarlet Ibis --
and co-owners Kelly Dickey and Paige Williams hope it’s based in
reality.
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DELEON’S NEWEST BUSINESS, THE SCARLET IBIS. Left to right,
Kelly Dickey and Paige Williams, co-owners of the Scarlett Ibis,
and Connie Winkles, the only full-time Scarlett Ibis employee. |
With an ambience and decor that has
drawn comparisons to upscale mall boutiques and Fredericksburg
establishments, the Scarlet Ibis offers a wide variety of items,
including kitchen ware, jewelry, shoes, handbags, home decor,
kids and baby gifts and antiques. “And Michelle McIlvain is
consigning “Yellow Box” shoes for us,” Kelly said. “They’ve
proven very popular.”
There is a “coffee shop” in the rear
of the store, where desserts, teas and gourmet coffees are
available. “We can also grind and bag the coffee fresh,” Paige
said, “for our customers to purchase and take home. And the
desserts are just incredible. Brandi Quinn Iley is our dessert
maker -- she makes two or three different desserts that are
available every day.”
“The antiques are really what started
all this,” Kelly Dickey noted. “I went to an antique auction and
ended up with all this stuff I didn’t know what to do with.”
Kelly said she originally talked to the owner of the building
that now houses The Scarlet Ibis, to see about leasing it for
storage. “But he was actually interested in selling it,” she
said. “It was perfect timing, it was like it was meant to be.”
Paige Williams agreed adding, “There
have been no glitches -- this whole thing has fallen into place,
every step of the way.”
Kelly and family -- husband Dr.
Howard Dickey, and children Mary Katherine and Will, have been
DeLeon residents since the summer of 1998.
“And my family (husband Scott
Williams, and children Payton and Riggin) has been here seven
years,” Paige said. “We live in the Victor Community.”
Scott Williams owns Williams Welding
and Construction. “His company did the remodel in here,” Paige
Williams said. “They contracted out to Rowdy Wilkerson for some
of the frame work, and to Ronnie Couch for the electric, but his
company did the rest.” The pressed-tin ceiling, exposed brick
walls, elegant lighting, and rich colors are as much a testament
to Paige and Kelly’s mutual vision and esthetic judgement, as
they are Scott Williams’ talent and expertise.
“It’s hard to explain,” Paige said,
“but we actually knew what this place was going to look like,
even when it was nothing but a shell. There was no plumbing, no
electricity -- there was no kitchen, no office, no bathroom,
nothing.”
Kelly and Paige said that all along
they had the same vision for the renovations -- never even
arguing over color or design. They were thrilled to see their
shared dream receive such a positive response during their grand
opening celebration on August 6.
Although they were pleased when their
store was packed for the grand-opening celebration on Wednesday,
August 6, Kelly and Paige say they were astonished by the crowd
on Golden Saturday, August 9.
“Our grand-opening was phenomenal,”
Kelly said, “but there was just a sea of people here that
Saturday.” She noted that customers were in good spirits on
Wednesday, despite the torrential rains.
“Only in a small agriculturally-based town, would rain put
everybody in such a good mood,” Kelly laughed. “Everyone was
just so happy.”
Although they appreciated the
business, both women admit that the feed-back was equally
important.
“People were just so complimentary,” Kelly said. “And so many
people thanked us for doing this in DeLeon,” Paige said.
“Yes, local people have been so
supportive,” Dickey said, adding that they all hope for a
downtown renaissance.
In addition to remarking over the
store’s contents and atmosphere, many customers inquired about
the store’s unique name. Kelly said the name was inspired by one
of her favorite pieces of literature -- but it didn’t come
easily.
“Coming up with a name was so hard,”
Kelly said. “I came up with lists and lists of names, and nobody
liked them. There’s a short story by James Hurst called The
Scarlet Ibis. It was always one of my favorite short stories,
and I thought that would make a great name, but nobody liked it
except for Paige.”
“I loved it,” Paige agreed. “I kept
telling her not to change it. I thought once people figure out
what it is, they’re going to feel kind of like a part of it.”
“Although the story itself is tragic,
it involves this beautiful bird that sort of appears where it’s
not expected,” Kelly said. “And everyone’s a little bit
perplexed by the fact that it’s there. It’s a sad story.
When I ‘googled’ the Scarlet Ibis, it
pulled up this ornithological information, and when you read the
description of this bird, it’s this rare, exotic creature that’s
very rarely found in these parts, just like in the story, and
because of its brilliant plumage it stands out from its
environment. It becomes more vibrant, and beautiful, and vivid,
as it matures.”
“That’s how she came up with the
perfect name,” Paige said. “And I just loved it.”
Paige noted that the whole endeavor
has been a family-affair. “Our families have helped us out so
much, and they’ve just worked so well together. They helped
during the grand-opening -- helping to wait on customers, and
prepare food in the back.
“And our immediate families were here
until late at night, usually 10 or later,” Kelly said. “It was
hard work, but we loved it.”
In addition to family, both Paige and
Kelly mentioned other people -- especially Connie Winkles and
Trent Thomas -- who have helped make their dream possible.
“It was a sad thing for DeLeon to
lose Connie’s Jewelry,” Paige said. “But we are having such a
blast with her. She’s our only full-time employee. So it’s
really a team of three.”
“And she brought with her all these
years of retail experience,” Kelly said.
“And a clientele that really loves
her,” Paige added.
“Everyone loves Connie,” Kelly said.
Paige and Kelly noted that Winkles
would continue to do jewelry repair. “People can drop off items
to be repaired here,” Paige said, “and pick them up here.”
Both women said that Trent Thomas has
been their staunchest supporter from the very beginning.
“Trent Thomas is our most regular
customer now -- and helped us out the entire time we were
getting things ready,” Kelly said. “We just love Trent.”
“He kept an eye on things for us, and
he even made sure we got to our cars safely -- he’s been such a
good friend,” Paige said.
“I used to run into Trent at antique
auctions,” Kelly said. “And when Paige and I started talking
about doing this, I knew that we needed more pieces than I had,
as far as display pieces. Trent had purchased the bar from the
Blue Moon, and he said we could use that ‘to class the place up’
and it’s worked out wonderfully. It’s such a beautiful piece.”
Other people have also shown support
for the fledgling operation.
“I wanted to mention just how
supportive Price’s Flowers has been,” Kelly said. “They’ve been
huge supporters of ours.”
“And they’ve sent over a few of their
(floral) arrangements, that we have on consignment,” Paige said.
“And we have signs sitting next to them that say ‘See this, and
other beautiful arrangements across the street at Prices.’ We
want to make it where it’s like one big store.”
Both Paige and Kelly expressed a
desire to offer a “place for the ladies” to come and drink
coffee and tea, and visit, since there are so many places for
the male coffee drinkers in DeLeon. “But we’re not excluding
men,” Kelly said. “Some of our best customers so far have been
men.”
Paige said they tried to find
merchandise for every age group.
“And every price point,” Kelly added.
“We have some expensive things, but we also have some very
affordable things.”
The Scarlet Ibis offers a bridal
registry, baby registry and a graduation registry.
Although their official slogan is
Once Seen, Never Forgotten, both women laughingly say that a
customer provided them with another slogan on Golden Saturday.
“We were serving peach cobbler that
day,” Kelly said, “and up by the counter we have something
called Diva Defense, it’s pepper spray in a leopard print cover
-- perfect for the college girl -- and this guy came up to the
front counter to pay for his cobbler, and he said ‘Look at this,
you all have everything from peach cobbler to pepper spray.”
Although they’ve had a moment now to
catch their breath, Kelly and Paige said they’re looking forward
to the next few months -- including the holidays, and looking
for just the right gift items for DeLeon area shoppers.
“The town has been so supportive,”
Kelly said, “everybody has been so sweet and helpful. We are
really enjoying this opportunity. We’ve truly loved every second
of this.”
“Yes,” Paige said. “I’ve never been
this tired, while we were getting everything up and running, or
had this much fun.”
The Scarlet Ibis is open Wednesday
through Friday from 10 to 5:30 and Saturday 10 to 2 p.m. For
more information, call 254-893-IBIS. |
