Decorations For All Occasions
You can ask Eleanor Partridge for western wedding decoration. But don't ask the woman known as "Mickie" for a tombstone display. "I don't do funerals," says Partridge, 71, who has been making artificial flower arrangements. "I'm too close to having one myself." Her joking attitude about her age belies the fact that she continues to operate a Mom-and-Pop business, Mickie's Silks, at 1042 E. Rose St., working with her daughter, Laura, putting western wedding decoration together for brides-to-be.
Her husband, Paul, is co-owner of the low-slung building, located next to a wrecker service and away from a busy road. Also included in a cubby hole of what she calls her "Little Shop of Horrors" is a cake business run by Larry Holmes. Both Eleanor Partridge and Holmes are former employees of Sears. Partridge was working in the ladies' fashions department when she was asked to make a change. "They asked me to cut back on my hours," she said. "I didn't have to, didn't want to, so I started this." Wedding-related businesses have come and gone in the neighborhood northeast of East Main Street and Ingraham Avenue. Lakeland Mayor Buddy Fletcher owned the House of Brides for about 30 years. Another business called the Cake Box still operates nearby. "It's still something of a wedding row," said Holmes, who moved into Partridge's floral business about six years ago. She had suggested he take over an idle business and start baking cakes after corporate downsizing left him looking. "The first cake was pretty awful," said Partridge. "But now he has a pretty good thing going." Holmes already loved cooking, and his longtime friend's confidence in his abilities helped send him on his way. Partridge started on Combee Road, getting the idea for her shop after she had fashioned some decorations while still at Sears. Her co-workers said she had a knack for it. She spent about two years on Combee Road and then settled in to her current location. Her husband -- they have been married 51 years -- opened a warehouse for Pam Pottery Inc., a successful wholesale pottery business, in 1972. Her son is still the chief executive there. So she didn't have a lot of financial pressure, she said. She did have to learn how to find and keep customers. The business tries to do everything but gowns and tuxedos. It offers referrals for soloists, photographers and caterers. |