Thank you to Rhonda Ryan, owner of By the Garden Gate, a new Papillion business. Rhonda dreamed of having her own business for a long time and now her dream has come true… By the Garden Gate.

By the Garden Gate is a great concept using the white house that has been vacant at 320 N Washington Street.  It will be repurposed to help her and others achieve their dreams with a team collaborative effort to ensure each others‘ success in an eclectic environment  that stresses team work. The six room main floor is divided into different areas for creative vendors.  Current offerings include furniture, the mosaic arts, jewelry, hair accessories, and children’s costume dance wear, quilts, quilted items, handmade jewelry, vintage jewelry, and custom embroidery. Home décor ranges from modern to vintage and antique.

I met with Rhonda at her store for the interview.

How did you come to be in this business?

I was a stay at home mom and did not want to work 9-5, so I started picking up old furniture and loving it back to life. I was a vendor for two years.

How did you choose your business’s name?

It came from a movie line, “Plant rosemary at your garden gate, grow lavender for luck.” The movie was called Practical Magic.

What type of vendors do you have so far?

Knitting, Mosaic Arts, Furniture Renovation, Children’s Costume Wear, Quilts, Quilted Items, Jewelry, and Custom Embroidery

Why did you pick Papillion?

We moved to Sarpy County in November. I loved the downtown area. This place jumped out at me and looked like a place to call home for my business.

How do you see your business fitting into the economic development of the area, especially downtown Papillion?

I am hoping it draw a lot of visitors from Omaha and the surrounding area. I also intend to hire local residents as my business grows and enlarges.

What is a difference between your store and other, similar type stores?

The biggest impression from where I came from is making sure that everybody understands that we play as a team to promote each other’s growth and success.

This has to be a team environment where we help each other. This is necessary for the blessings to come back to each of us.

I want to make sure vendors coming in understand that it is about all of us and as a whole.  I want each to have individual identity, but want them to understand there is a bigger picture.

There is a gate story to go with the name of the store.

Rhonda knew for years the name of the store that she wanted to start. One day when she and her husband were living in mountains of Southwestern Virginia. One day her husband went on a camping trip West Virginia and went to the nearest town, Gary. There he discovered that the estate of a local railroad magnate was being hauled out to the dump. It had been in disrepair for years, but many nice things remained.  Jeff was able to get part of the garden gate from the estate and took it home to his wife as a special surprise and a physical sign of encouragement to cheer her on to her dream. This special item will soon join the store near the front door and when it does, the store will literally be…By the Garden Gate.

Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting

The grand opening is this weekend March 1 and second Saturday hours are 10 to 6, Sunday 12 to 4. Ribbon cutting is planned on later in March.

Please come and visit this new Papillion business … By the Garden Gate.

Name: Rhonda Ryan
Business: By the Garden Gate
Address:
320 N Washington St
Papillion, NE 68046
Phone: (402)401-1071
Email: bythegardengate@cox.net