Candle Shop, Burlap-n-Rags leave location after 32 years
by BETH ALTENA
Meg Franz, owner of BowDacious, The Candle Shop and Burlap-n-Rags, is moving all merchandise to the BowDacious store, 27A North Main Street, Rockford.
Shoppers will no longer be able to find The Candle Shop and Burlap-n-Rags at the little red store at 52 Courtland Street in downtown Rockford, but will soon find the inventory from those two businesses at 27A North Main Street, where Meg Franz has operated BowDacious for just over five years. Franz is excited about the consolidation, although she admitted to having shed tears more than once at the idea of closing the doors where her parents ran the businesses before her. She chooses to see it as an opportunity to streamline business and expand inventory.
“We will completely close August 21, 22 and 23 to move and have a grand re-opening Saturday, September 10,” Franz stated.
Catered by Twisted Vine, Franz said she believes people will absolutely love the new look of the store as well as the new product lines she will introduce during the grand re-opening. She said the back section of her store will combine wedding and baby items, the middle will be shabby chic and “artsy fartsy,” and the front will be the rest of the apparel, jewelry and home décor. Blended throughout will be The Candle Shop inventory and her mother Sally’s rug-hooking will be in an “earthy” nook.
Franz’s husband, Charlie, who has been holding down the fort at The Candle Shop, will now be able to concentrate on his custom candle business, which he has been doing for 38 years. Franz believes he is the only person in the area left who still creates candles with wedding invitations, memorial photos, congratulatory cards or about anything else built into the candle for viewing. The candles can be burned in such a way that they last forever and can be a permanent memento of significant milestones.
Franz is sure the transition will be a new era in her business and hopes her loyal customers, and new ones, will be as excited as she is. The hours at BowDacious are 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or, as Franz likes to point out, “until the last customer is ready to leave. When people are in shopping, I stay open.”
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