Lessley Olmsted Singleton says it’s been fun running Indoor Garden for 18 years, but she’s looking forward to a job that will give her more time with her family.
Beginning Jan. 3, she will be working as a sales associate for Two’s Company, a New York-based gift company.
“I’ll be still able to be around the things I love, because they have a fabulous product line,” she said.
She said Monday probably would be her last day at Indoor Garden, and there’s still some cleaning and bookkeeping work to be done. During the cleanup, she’s found things that have stirred many memories.
“I’ve made a lot of friends here that I would’ve never known and our paths never would’ve crossed had I not had this retail shop,” she said.
Singleton, 41, grew up in Greenwood and graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in retail flower shop management. After working for a flower shop in Memphis for a while, she decided she preferred small-town life and returned home.
She opened Indoor Garden at another location on Park Avenue and spent eight years there before moving the store to the larger site it has occupied for the last 10.
At first, it focused on garden items. A children’s section was added later, as were seasonal items such as door decorations.
Singleton said her father, Bobby Olmsted, who owned Greenwood Lumber Co. for 17 years, gave her valuable tips when she was starting out. He also has kept her books from the beginning.
“He’s given me lots of guidance and wisdom and advice on running a business, so I was very fortunate to have that,” she said.
When she opened Indoor Garden, she was single and had no children, so she had more energy, she said. Now that she is married and has two daughters — 10-year-old Helen and 6-year-old Rachel — she wants to have a more flexible schedule.
“To be 23 and opening up a business — I look back now and think, ‘My goodness. How did I do that?’” she recalled with a laugh.
Running Indoor Garden has meant working many seven-day weeks and holidays and preparing a lot of funeral flowers on short notice.
With Two’s Company, she will largely be able to set her own schedule. Her plan is to begin her work day after her daughters go to school and be home by 6 p.m. most days.
The girls have grown up around the store. Singleton said Rachel might be the saddest about the change because she’s spent so much time there. In fact, sometimes she offers to help with the customers.
“She’ll come over and chime in and say, ‘Oh, how about this?’ or ‘We have this!’” Singleton said.
Singleton will be calling on stores mainly in such as Jackson, Cleveland, Greenville and Columbus, so she can be back home in the evening. Sometimes she will travel to the Gulf Coast, which will require some overnight stays, but that probably won’t be more than a few times a year, she said.
She also will continue to go to market in Atlanta twice a year.
Singleton, who describes her work as “the feel-good business,” said many people have called and sent e-mails wishing her well. Some of those who were customers when she started the business remained loyal to the end, she said.
“They have just been very, very heartwarming and just really have made me feel really good about what I’ve done all these 18 years,” she said.
A scrapbook enthusiast, she plans to put together a scrapbook of her years at Indoor Garden.
“It’s really neat to have been a part of so many people’s lives,” she said.
nContact David Monroe at dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
