Bloomin’ 90 a dream come true for gift shop owner

By R. Hans Miller, News Editor
Posted 7/2/21

Jennifer Cruseturner says she fell in love with the idea of owning a gift shop years ago when working at her first job. Now, her dream is coming true as she runs her own store, Bloomin’ 90 at …

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Bloomin’ 90 a dream come true for gift shop owner

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Jennifer Cruseturner says she fell in love with the idea of owning a gift shop years ago when working at her first job. Now, her dream is coming true as she runs her own store, Bloomin’ 90 at 3719 Hwy. 90 E. in Brookshire, featuring crafts, plants, clothing and curios for her customers to enjoy.

“I’ve had dreams for about 20 years,” Jennifer said. “My first job was a carwash, and the carwash had a gift shop. So, I eventually ordered all of the merchandise. After that, I just knew one day I was going to want to have a gift shop.”

Time went by and Jennifer kept bringing up the idea for a shop from time to time and setting it up in Brookshire, she said. Her father, Gary Cruseturner – who also helps run the shop, spotted the building that eventually became the shop in February of 2020. Now, Jennifer said, her dream is finally coming true and has evolved into a craft shop with a heart for the community.

“I mean, anything and everything you can think of,” Jennifer said. “We want to offer ‘how to make it’ classes, and maybe rent out our woodshop area.”

Besides planning for crafting classes, Jennifer also offers consignment options for clients to bring their crafts in. Additionally, she is working on setting up a conference room that can be rent out, community events such as the weekly Shop the Shire markets in the lot next to the gift boutique and family-friendly activities such as a dog show she has planned for July 17 in partnership with Hand Built Pets. The contest will have five judges and feature categories such as “best tail wag” and “best smile,” Jennifer said.

“The (Shop the Shire) market worked out perfect,” Jennifer said. It just kind of landed in our laps and we’re running with it. We charge a very small fee of just $25 right now per vendor.”

The shop also hopes to have live entertainment, Gary said.

“We want to have community events,” Gary said. “Barn dances and that sort of thing to provide activities on Fridays and Saturdays.”

Gary said the pair have live musicians in mind they’d like to have provide the entertainment, but details are still being worked out on any dances or concerts.

The building, which used to be the Wayside Theatre, is spacious inside and father and daughter are making adjustments to the interior to make it suit their purposes. In addition to adding a conference room that can be rented out, a woodworking shop is nearly finished and a large area in the back of the shop will allow vendors with the Shop the Shire markets to rent space out of the weather to hock their wares.

While they’re at Shop the Shire, Jennifer said she hopes customers will also come into Bloomin’ 90 and the other nearby shops to build up Brookshire’s local businesses.

Jennifer said that weekends are going well with the shop’s more unique items being the top attractions for customers. This includes and home décor items. The store also offers artwork – including 3D paintings of animals – cake platters, jewelry, kitchenware, clothing, satchels and yard decorations.

Jennifer recommends that anyone wanting a lighter crowd come in during the week. Shoppers can also pick order merchandise online if they’d like through the shop’s website. (see sidebar)

Jennifer said she’s focused on building the shop up and has a focus on making sure the “Bloomin’” part of the store’s name shines through with their succulent and other plant arrangements.

“We’ve made (plant) arrangements and we want to be the go-to plant shop for Brookshire,” Jennifer said.

Bloomin' 90, Jennifer Cruseturner, Gary Cruseturner, gift shop, business profile, Brookshire