“I drove by very fast and she said, ‘Where is it?’” recalled Creager, who used to grow plants as a hobby. “My heart sank and I turned around and when she saw it she was speechless.”
That was back in the days when a motorist could drive very fast on Bloomingdale Avenue, near the corner of Bell Shoals Road. The year was 1977 and there wasn’t much there. But there was, as Creager put it, a chopped-up concrete structure in need of desperate repair.
That was the building Roz, pregnant with her son Matt, and her husband Mark, bought for what would be their home and eventually become the Green Boutique, 1014 Bloomingdale Avenue.
Fast forward to 2006 and the Green Boutique, specializing in gifts, home décor, some apparel and even fashion jewelry, has moved into a 36,000 square-foot shopping center back behind the property. Green Boutique, which closed its nursery operation about 15 years ago, also carries Brighton collectibles and the Vera Bradley line.
The old property consisted of two buildings, with a combined space of 2,600 square feet. Now, there is one storefront, comprising 5,000 square feet, in the Plaza Bella shopping center.
The Creagers have become developers with the opening of Plaza Bella, which recently opened and is almost fully leased. Retailers include Salon Essence; the Vino 100 wine store; and Orange, a home décor and gift shop specializing in gifts more contemporary than Green Boutique and with a very unique flair, Roz Creager said.
Also open or coming to the two-story complex, which includes room for offices on the second floor, are the Plant Beach tanning salon; Bella Granite and Stone, which specializes in custom stone and granite installation and cabinetry; and a Joffrey’s Coffee & Ice Cream Café. A Tussie & Mussie’s tea room, Creager said, will feature “everything homemade.”
Open in an outparcel are Peacock’s Plume, a day-care facility specializing in infants and young children, and coming is a Bank of Hillsboro branch. Soon to be built, once the old Green Boutique buildings are torn down, is a 7,000 square-foot building for a café and additional retail.
“It feels great, we’re a little dazed,” at the opening of Plaza Bella, Roz Creager said. “By February everybody should be open.”
The Green Boutique moved in Thanksgiving Day.
“We were here very late and we had a lot of help from family, friends and staff, who also are friends,” Creager said. “Even some of our sales reps helped.”
Looking back, Creager said she never could have envisioned what her dream to open a nursery would turn into. Even her father, Dick Cimino, for whom the elementary school in Bloomingdale is named, was a bit skeptical when he first saw the original building.
“I think he would be bursting with pride and blasting it all over Brandon, that we’re open,” Creager said.
Mark Creager in the mid- to-late ‘80s quit his job to concentrate on the budding business. He had been a member of the pipe fitters union.
As the Creagers prepared for the demolishment of the original Green Boutique buildings, Roz Creager said it will be an emotional time.
“I don’t think I want to be here when they knock it down,” she said. “I wanted to move, we were looking forward to the next step, but it’s still going to be emotional.”
For information about Plaza Bella leasing, call Mark Creager at 685-3106.