To my knowledge they’ve never dressed together as the Three Musketeers, but for 22 years they’ve lived by the same credo of “One for all and all for one,” and insisted since day one that since they came into business as a team, they would eventually depart the business as a team. As a result, Linda, Vicki and Sheila from Perennial Accents are now officially in the early stages of finding their successors at the highly successful business they operate in downtown St. Joseph. If you have such an interest, you will do well to contact them soon.
Linda Frazee and her daughters Vicki Campbell and Sheila Banasik have been a team since going into business together in 1995, and their Perennial Accents shop at 220 State Street in St. Joseph’s central business district has become a red hot destination attraction for unique kitchen utensils and products, culinary demonstrations and classes, and home and garden decor that can rarely be found elsewhere in the region.
Sheila contacted me this weekend and said, “We moved to St. Joseph as a team with the understanding we would leave at the appropriate time in the same manner we started — together.” If you are a fan and regular customer, don’t panic. They are NOT closing up the shop. Their main goal is locate the right buyer to continue the very successful venture they have built together as a family.
Perennial Accents actually has deep roots in the Sister Lakes region where Linda and Vicki began in the basement of Linda’s home. There, they would make floral decor and sell at craft shows and the like. As the business grew, they moved out back to the family barn and converted part of that into a shop where they also sold perennial plants and showcased them in beautiful gardens (thus, the name).
Vicki says that worked pretty well for about 3 or 4 seasons, and then they came into St. Joe and were part of another business — Upper Crust Gifts & Antiques — before they got their own storefront which is where HarborTown Interiors is today. Vicki says when they first moved into their own shop, Moody on the Market wrote a story and, “We thought we’d hit the big time like being in the New York Times, and it was huge.”
About three years later they learned that the space they now call home was going to become available so they contacted building owner Jack Keller, struck a deal and operate in about half of the space they now have for quite a long time, until they learned that the popcorn store around the corner was going out of business, so they we were able to knock through the wall dramatically increase the shop. Sheila calls that “The best decision we ever made because it took us from just getting along to being a solid, thriving business.”
Vicki adds, “That took us from a girl’s store to a case where men like this store, too. ”
That was about fifteen years ago and the business has boomed ever since. As the family was gathering over the holidays, Sheila says they were reflecting on one of their best years ever — “An awesome year,” — and adds, “With everything being in really good position, having gotten the business into a super good, healthy condition, we all three talked about it over the holidays and said, ‘You know what? Is there going to be a better time? This is really good right now and all three of us feel ready, so…” Vicki chimes in, “There’s nothing better than to go out on top. We feel like everything is in amazing shape, for somebody else to experience great success, and they can take it to another level.”
Realizing that if they were to stay much longer, they too would want to invest in pursuing the next level, or they can pave the way for the next person to take it there. All three insist, “We want this store to stay here in St. Joe, we think we have plenty of customers that want it to be here, so we’re hoping that we can help them (the next owners) have a smooth transition so that they can be as successful as we are.”
The sale of Perennial Accents would be just for the business and inventory inasmuch as the building is still owned by Jack Keller, but, they’ve already reached out to him…and says he’s worked with them in a phenomenal way, pointing out, “He knew this decision was coming, and he will work with the next owner, as well.”
The family agrees, “We would like anybody that has a serious interest in the business to contact us and we’ll go from there. We’re working with a legal team to help make it all happen smoothly. Our financial records are all set for the right person that is serious about taking over.”
In the meantime, shoppers will still have a lively destination attraction filled with all the things they know and love. As Vicki suggests, “We’re going to continue to do business as usual, so we’re still ordering inventory, and want to keep the store interesting and viable, but of course as we get into the year, we’re hoping by fall that we know there’s something ready to happen.” Sheila adds, “We hope it doesn’t linger past late summer because the Christmas season is a key, huge season for this business, and anybody new needs to be solidified and well-versed before getting into that season,” and then adds, “Summer is also a really good precursor to the huge holiday season.”
So who tripped the trigger to sell? Sheila says she and Vicki kind of started conversation simultaneously by giving one another the look of “are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Vicki adds, “It finally felt right. Before when we’d think about it, we’d chicken out and say, we’ve worked to hard to build this place up and we’re going to continue, but for some reason it just feels right this time and we know that we are in a really good position for anybody to take a look and make a deal.”
So, when a deal is made, what’s next? For Sheila, “I will take some time off, rest up a little bit, and then I’ve got some ideas in mind as far as just going back to what I did before I had kids, which is probably doing some kind of office work.”
For Vicki, “I am going to do some volunteer work because that’s what I want to do, and then I’ll pursue beyond that. I like working, but I also want to not have to work for a little while, too.”
One would think it could be a short time on the block. Vicki says, “We’ve had so many, over many years, people asking us to put this business in other places in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. So we know that this is seen as a viable business venture,” and Sheila pipes in, “We have many people who say you just can’t find a great kitchen store like this, which kind of shocks us, but, I’m glad they came here and shopped with us.”
Both admit that some people come in and say “boy I sure wish I had a job like yours. We hear that all the time, I would love to have a business like this.” They also regularly hear pleadings to never go away. As Sheila says, “Mostly what we hear is, constantly, don’t you ever think about closing your store. You can’t go anywhere! Don’t you go, we need you here!”
Pledging to work hard with the new owners to have a smooth transition, the Perennial Accents family meanwhile gets back to work, ordering for spring and summer, stocking shelves, and making memories before their own time runs out and they hand over the keys, turn out the lights, and find their next big adventure, followed by new owners who fire up the open sign once again and begin an adventure of their own in the heart of downtown St. Joseph.
If you are seriously interested in acquiring Perennial Accents business in downtown St. Joseph you can reach Vicki or Sheila at 269-983-5791 or via email at contact-us@perennialaccents.com.
