Manitoba Chamber of Commerce
Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/97063
Labour of Love Pa r k l a n d This young mom's business is blooming by David Square Photos courtesy of Kelly Hunter A s a child, Kelly Hunter loved to duck in to Rossburn's Heritage General Store to buy candy on her way home from school. It was while she was on maternity leave that she decided to "make the leap," and rent the old general store, with an option to buy. She recalls how the old store, with its selection of merchandise on one side and a grocer with a meat counter on the other, ignited her young imagination. Her husband, Brett, wasn't enamoured of the idea at first. The 1939 building had been vacant for a few years and he feared it had suffered structural damage. However, it proved to be sound, although it needed renovations to meet modern building codes. "I used to wander the aisles, fascinated by the shoes, fabrics, clothes and, of course, the bright jars of candy. The store seemed enormous to me. I remember dreaming how wonderful it would be to own it." Today, that dream is reality for the 33-year-old owner of eclectic business Gone Scrappin' in Bloom — a café, flower shop, gift and scrapbooking centre that's been housed in the historic store since 2007. A vivacious mother of three, Hunter started small, opening a scrapbooking business out of her mother Val White's flower store in 2003. For a few years, she kept her day jobs — first at the Russell Inn and, later, as marketing director for Russell's Vanguard Credit Union. 14 MBiz November 2012 Hunter applied to Manitoba Hydro for insulation grants and secured a low-interest loan of $10,000 from a community development program. Hometown Manitoba, which provides funds to fix up building exteriors, also kicked in $1,000. It was only after she took the plunge and bought the store in 2008, that Hunter discovered she was pregnant with her third child. It was the most stressful time of her life. Along with keeping the store stocked with new merchandise, she had a mortgage and staff to pay, and to top it off, she bought Val's flower business and moved it into the building.