Thursday, November 23, 2006

Reid puts unique touch on Cowboy Bleu

by Kenneth Lassiter

Butterflies were active in the stomach of Heather Reid upon the opening of her new antique shop, Cowboy Bleu, Nov. 10, but the Oskaloosa native is hoping antiques plus some custom merchandise can add up to success on the south side of the square.

Reid is a 1993 graduate of Oskaloosa High School who now lives in rural Ozawkie with her husband, Brian, and their children, Kobe, 5, and Gracie, 4. Locals may recognize her better as Heather May, which was her maiden name. She is the daughter of Joe May and Linda Reiling.

The idea of opening an antique business is something Reid said has been in the back of her mind for a while. Linda Reiling owns the building that houses the Oskaloosa Medical Clinic and Lora Grace Floral along Jefferson Street on the south side of the square. When space that at one time housed Pia Friend Realty and, most recently, Southern Smiles Portrait Studio, became available, Reid decided to give her own business a shot.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. All my family has been really supportive of this,” Reid said. Her sister, Megan May, is also helping out with the store. The name comes from the names of Reid’s two “weiner dogs” – Cowboy and Wipee Bleu. “I wanted to try to hurry and have some fall stuff out and be open for the Christmas open house here in a couple weeks.”

Since leaving Oskaloosa to study biology at Kansas State University after graduation in 1993, life has taken Reid to first Arizona and, later, California, as she worked in art design in both states.

She met Brian in his native California and they moved to Kansas to raise their family. Heather was a stay-at-home mom to Kobe and Gracie before Kobe entered school at Oskaloosa this fall. Brian’s parents also ended up making the move to Kansas and his mother, Carolyn, makes small soaps that Reid will sell at Cowboy Bleu.

The store is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reid will supplement a supply of various antiques by offering custom-made table linens and bedding. She also custom designs and makes lamps and upholstered children’s rocking chairs. Another unique facet of the business will be original abstract oil paintings by Reid. Reid said she would take items on consignment at the store as part of the way to keep store offerings refreshed.

Prior to opening, Reid and her husband, who is a carpenter, got to work redecorating the space to create the right ambience for an antique store. Past visitors to the location in its previous incarnations will note the changes that have been done to spruce up the space. The final touch was the wooden “Cowboy Bleu” sign that now hangs on the front of the building.

Reiling expressed her pride in what Reid has created with Cowboy Bleu and said the business fits in with the rest of the courthouse square in that it isn’t in competition with many other local businesses.

“If she had tried to do this in Lawrence, not only would the overhead have been so much more but the prices would probably be triple what they are,” Reiling said. She is also helping out in that if window shoppers see or know of something they want to buy, they can walk a couple doors down to Reiling’s insurance office and she can let them in and make the sale. “This is really something we can use here in town, and with the family and the chamber (of commerce) getting back into action there’s a good support system in place, which all the businesses here need.”

The store got a jump start Nov. 10 as Reid played host to a grand opening complete with refreshments and the cooperation of her neighbors at Lora Grace. Reid said she was anxious to get to work and has guarded optimism about her first business venture.

“I hope (people like it), I’m trying to keep a pretty eclectic mix of items in here,” she said. She had been designing chairs and table linens for stores in Weston, Mo., and Lawrence prior to opening her own store. “I wanted to be able to keep prices as competitive as I can. There seems to be a lot of interest from all the questions we’ve been getting (prior to opening). I guess we’ll find out.”