By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
Longtime Salina florists and artisan encouragers Peggy and Wayne DeBey are calling it a career.
For more than 39 years, Peggy and Wayne have successfully owned and operated The Flower Nook in Salina, but at the end of the month, the downtown icon will close its doors for the final time and Peggy and Wayne will pursue other endeavors as they enjoy their retirement.
The DeBeys had planned to announce that they were closing The Nook during Friday night's First Friday event at the shop, however, the curious promotion of the event as "The Last First Friday" got tongues to wagging and piqued the interest of many a Flower Nook fan. Then there was the ComPro Realty sign that appeared in the front window of the shop at 208 E. Iron.
I sat down with Peggy and Wayne last week to talk about their decision to close The Nook, their careers, and their future.
Wayne said the decision to close the shop wasn't an easy one, however, health issues for the both of them were a nudge they couldn't ignore.
"It was just like, I think the universe is telling us it is time," Wayne said.
The DeBeys bought The Flower Nook in 1983, and since that time they have not had "a normal day."
"We've done it for a long time, and basically, I've enjoyed it. There are frustrations as there are with any business, but I liked what I did and I still do," Wayne said.
"Probably the big adjustment is not having that flow of flowers in front of me all the time, and also the flow of people," Wayne said. "There isn't such a thing as a normal day, because you come in and you just don't know what's gonna happen, who's gonna walk in your door, what they're gonna need."
Through the years, the DeBeys turned The Flower Nook into more than just a flower shop. They began inviting artists in to exhibit their works or to perform. They also encouraged many artisans to sell their creations in The Nook. At any one time, 15 or so artisans from throughout the area would offer their works for sale.
Peggy said the decision to close was "a heart-tug."
"This has just been such a part of our lives for so long. And since I've started doing art, I'm going to have such a trouble to disconnect with that because I feel like I have a knack and I've married the community and art people, and I'm feeling bad about and wondering where they're going to go," Peggy said.
"On the other hand, I will allow myself to think about the excitement. It's been a long time since Wayne and I have got to be a couple. Just a couple without having to talk about the shop and the flowers, and just find something else to end up our life just as husband and wife, and I find that super exciting. I think it will be a nice final chapter of our world," she added.
The cycle of life
Wayne said that because they have operated The Flower Nook for nearly 40 years, they have grown with families who have been and are their customers.
"I've (seen them) married. I've seen their kids come into the world. I've married some of their kids. I've buried some of them. You get that cycle of life," he said.
Through the years, the DeBeys have served in many roles for their customers, including being listeners and confidants.
"We get a lot of the back story, and sometimes I think we're chief psychologists. People wanna talk. People wanna tell you what their need is a lot of times," Wayne said. "We've been keeping family secrets for a long time."
Retirement
When asked about their immediate plans for retirement, Wayne chuckled and Peggy replied, "Well, I've already made several plans!"
Shortly after the shop closes, the couple plans to head to Las Vegas for an American Institute of Floral Designers flower show, where they will get to see many florist friends they haven't seen for a while, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. But even that will be bittersweet.
"And once again, it'll be real different because normally you go to things and you get charged up and you want to go home and you want to make it, or I go to the social media classes. So this time it's just gonna be kind of watching, and then I know there will be some tears, because it will be like, wow, we're not gonna have anyone to do this for," Peggy said.
The accidental florist
The DeBeys haven't always been florists. In fact, Wayne refers to their getting into the business as "the accidental florist."
Wayne said that when they moved back to Salina, he had planned to run a greenhouse or buy into a greenhouse.
"It seemed like every time we tried to take a step forward, it was blocked," Wayne said. "So in the winter, one of us heard about Kansas State School of Floristry, and they had like month-long basic classes, and I thought, well, you know, that could be good to have that to kind of fill in some of the slow times. So I went to this class, and it was in Lawrence, and before I got out of it, I had ended up buying a flower shop. I found out The Flower Nook was for sale in Salina and that launched us into it."
At that point, as florists, the DeBeys were as green as the greenery in their floral arrangements.
"We didn't have any retail experience. We didn't have any floral experience. If it wasn't for good designers working with us at that time, it probably wouldn't have made it," Wayne said.
They also had the experiences of their parents to rely on.
"Both of our parents had their own businesses, and we knew that was hard. We understood working for ourselves was going to be hard," Peggy said. "It never was 'oh, what were we thinking about?' It was like 'we can do it!'"
Peggy said that the person they bought The Flower Nook from in March of 1983 had told them that after a vacation, she would come back and train them, but by then they had faced and survived the trial by fire that was Mothers Day.
"By then, you had to sink or swim. You had a lot of things left to learn, but it wasn't like, 'oh now tell me how to do it' because, hello, we've done it," she said.
"And then Wayne always said we were blooming idiots, and everybody laughed except for us because it seemed like, uh-huh, I think you're right," Peggy added.
Helping others was what they knew
Although the DeBeys were green as florists, they did have quite a bit of experience in another aspect of the business, that of helping others.
"It's interesting in hindsight because at that time (when they bought The Nook), Wayne was in the social working department and I also was in an organization like OCCK. We worked with people and we worked to better people's lives, and so really, it was what we always knew, that service where you, 'how can I help you?'" Peggy said.
Always a downtown shop
When the DeBeys bought The Flower Nook, it was located at 248 B S. Santa Fe Avenue. They stayed at that location for about 15 years before moving to the current location, where they've been for 24 years, Wayne said.
"The Flower Nook has always been a downtown store. It started in '45 across from the old Lamer Hotel in what was truly a nook, acccording to the people that remembered it. If you had four or five people in front of the counter, it was full," Wayne said.
The DeBeys moved The Flower Nook to its current location after the owner of the building on S. Santa Fe wanted the space for something else.
"We started looking, and I walked through this derelict building and I fell in love with the space, not the derelict building as such. It just had such great space," Wayne said. "I went home and Peggy said, 'I don't like the look in your eyes!'"
The Flower Nook's current location had been the old Pittsburgh Plate Glass store that had burned in the late 1970s, Wayne said. The building had been partially restored after the fire.
"I could tell we were going to buy it. I knew from the way Wayne was talking. And it was a lot of work," Peggy said.
"There was a lot of sweat equity in this building. We were young enough then we could do it and our daughters all got conscripted," Wayne said and laughed. "I'm not sure they volunteered, but they got involved in it. We had one guy come in and they were working on restoring the space next door, and he said, 'I didn't know there was an all-female construction crew. Where did they come from?'"
After all the work and all the heart the DeBeys have put into The Flower Nook, they had hoped that someone would buy the shop.
"We had hoped, and it still would be wonderful if someone would step forward and wanted to take a business that's going and keep it going, but it just hasn't worked out. If anyone's out there, come and talk to us," Wayne said.
. . .
The Last First Friday Art at The Nook is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Friday. Here's what's scheduled for the event:
●A Mandela Effect - Therapy Art exhibit from Room Green Production
●A floral beard exhibit on live models will be on display
●The story of Rose Kretsinger Quilting, as portrayed by Debbie Devine
●Music by Taylor Kline
●Sunflower art created by local and area artists to benefit Ukrainian refugees in Poland also will be on display. All of the sunflower artwork - approximately 100 pieces - will be for sale, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Ukrainian refugee assistance efforts at the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art.
READ: Heartland artists create to help people thousands of miles away