One thing about the new Shabby Shack at 118-A Flamingo Drive in Apollo Beach: It’s definitely not “shabby.”
The store was filled with customers the moment it opened on a recent Saturday morning. People came to look, to buy, and to get their names on the waiting list for booths — in case any of the current vendors leave.
Dallas and Jill Smith opened for business Sept. 2 and will hold an Open House, Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 13-15. When they first started, the two planned to work it together, but ill health has prevented Jill from doing much since going on disability.
Because Dallas has worked for Tampa Electric Co. 28 years as a lineman, he continues to work fulltime until retirement, and works the store as a side business.
Jill had a background in managing stores at malls, and worked with Dallas on the plan and layout of the booths.
The two have been a team for a very long time.
“Jill is from a seventh-generation family in Riverview and I’m from a third-generation family from Riverview,” said Dallas. “We’ve been married 12 years and together have four grown children. We thought this space-sharing idea would give local craftspeople and artisans a chance to show and sell their creations. We didn’t realize when we started that Jill would not be able to work it fulltime.”
But still, they continued, and the artisans continued to come.
Spaces are filled with everything from painted glassware to furniture made from antique (and old!) doors and windows.
Dallas says he likes to work with the wood, giving it a “distressed” look — which is a technique to make newer things look antique.
Jill and Dallas met at Vance Vogel Park in Gibsonton where he was a football and baseball coach and she was a cheerleading coach. “We were both doing volunteer work,” he said.
He has done woodworking his whole life since taking shop in high school, and Jill has always enjoyed crafts. When they first got together, they went to flea markets and yard sales, and that soon progressed to buying and selling on eBay and Craigslist, but they didn’t like doing business that way.
“We knew there were enough people right here in this area that had great things to show off and sell,” Dallas said. “So we started something we call ‘shabby chic’ furniture, and it grew from there.”
At first they rented a small space in Riverview to sell their things, and then they started looking for a house to do the work in and also use as a storefront.
But whenever they chatted with other local artists, they found many were looking for small spaces they could afford to rent.
“I love to see them reusing and repurposing things. I’ve made headboards for beds and bannister railings out of old windows and doors. Tables, too,” he said, pointing to some woodwork both finished and in progress. “Many here repurpose and reuse things others disgard.”
Patty Wood is a good example.
A paralegal by day and an artist by night, Patty has engaged her entire family in the creative items she has in her booth at Shabby Shack.
Many in the area know Patty from the tearoom she used to operate in Ruskin. Some of the intricately handmade items from both her tearoom and the tearoom that recently closed on Lithia Pinecrest Road in Brandon are now for sale in her booth.
Patty changes her décor by the season and is now working both Halloween and Christmas. But some items are year-round treasures.
As her daughter Alyssa helped her in the tearoom, she also helps with the crafts. Her husband Gregg builds from wood anything she asks for. Many of those things she uses as a base for her work.
He built a wood canopy to go over a “distressed” wrought-iron dining set. Patty decorated the canopy with a handmade awning and lights. He also made a ladder shelf that she covered with pages from old books and uses for knickknacks and as a bookshelf.
One of her wreaths took 257 yards of material and 20 hours to make, she said. But it is all a labor of love.
The finds in Shabby Shack are incredibly novel. From the wine rack made from an old guitar to an entire set of tableware made from shells and basket-weave, guests just don’t know what they’ll stumble upon next.
Classes in various crafts are also planned.
To find out more, or get store hours, craft class dates and times, call 813-765-6708 and leave a message. Dallas or Jill will return your call.