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PAGE 10 â€" WATERLQO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, Wendy McCreary Chronicle Staff They started out in a little shop on Breithaupt Street. It was so small that classes had to be held in a church and that meant lugging materials up and down the stairs two nights a week. After a year in business, Jo Ann Lund and Marjorie Basler look back on their first locationâ€"â€" the back of Basler‘s property. "It was supposed to have been my husband‘s office. We confiscated it," laughs Basler. Be Creative Floral Supplies is now located at 298 C Marsland Dr. where they held an open house on Saturday,. The new location is big enough to hold classes in. â€"Business Week The ladies had previously taken a course in floral arrangâ€" ing through Conestoga College and were encouraged by their teacher, Nancy McSporran, to fill the need for silk floral supplies they believed existed in this area. Lund and Basler started Be Creative because they "couldn‘t find the quality of (silk) flowers that we liked at the prices that we liked," said Lund. They also thought it would be a good idea to hold classes since there was always a waiting list at the college. The Waterloo campus also did not offer an advanced class. Carol Mackey was hired to teach the classes. ‘"‘We had taken an advanced course from Carol in her house and we really liked her," said Basler. ‘"She‘s a really good designer in the true sense of the word. ‘"We really have a lot of fun in our classes,"‘ Basler said. "By the time the six weeks is up they (students) really have gotten know one another." Besides offering the beginners and advanced course there is a wedding course. "If you were going to do a silk wedding that would be the time to do it," said Lund. "You‘d have four weeks and it‘d save you a lot of money." Be Creative exclusively sells Floral business provides opportunity for Kâ€"W women to really Be Creative high quality silks. ‘"We have kept our prices below any of the other flower shops in town that we know of," said Lund. "Our whole numberâ€"onel goal of this thing is quality," Lund said. ‘‘We don‘t compromise on quality at all." ‘"We really researched this well before we went into it," Basler said. Lund said their flowers feel nice and softâ€"natural, while others are‘‘cardboardy‘"‘. The colors, she said are true, not gaudy. _ Both boast of their handâ€" wrapped silks. ‘"We have a good selection of ‘quality‘ handâ€" wrapped silks at good prices."‘ Lund explained these flowers as being handâ€"made and some handâ€"painted. ‘"They pay some little girl over in Taiwan two pennies a day to sit there and make these beautiful flowers. ‘"‘They‘re gorgeous! They are exclusively used in ‘highâ€"design‘ work." In the beginning, the ladies started out with the idea that this would be a "fun thing‘‘ to do on a partâ€"time basis. "Two years ago we would never have dreamed that we would be where we are today," said Basler. As for actually getting started, ‘"‘neither one of us would have wanted to do this on our own,‘"‘Lund said. "I was busy enough in my own life," said Basler. s Lund said she was really scared. "I had never done anyâ€" thing like this before. _ _ â€" As for Basler, "for me I wasn‘t scared because I had seen my husband, eight years ago, quit his job and start up a business and then start up a second business. I thought, ‘well, if he can do it, I can do it."" Be Creative doesn‘t carry fresh flowers but ‘"some fresh is taught in our courses. It‘s imporâ€" tant that they (students) learn to work with fresh flowers, and how to care for them,"‘ Basler said. Attractive silk plants and trees are also available at Be Creâ€" ative. Basler said "they‘re comâ€" ‘"‘They‘re good for doctor‘s offices, places where there‘s not enough light, bathrooms, dark corners, rec rooms..."‘ ing in more and more."‘ Jo Ann Lund (left) and Marjorie Basler prepare silks. The ladies believe that because more people are making their own crafts these days there is more of a demand for a supply shop than one that puts together arrangements. They will, howevâ€" er, do arrangements and wedâ€" dings if asked. _ Unlike other shops, Lund and Basler shop around for their supplies. "A lot of flower shops just phone in their orders," said Basler. "If you phone a supplier to order brown lilies they send them to you and you have. no choice," explained Lund. "You got them, you paid for them, you sell them." ‘"We comparison shop,"‘ Basler said. ‘"‘We‘ve got 19 different supâ€" pliers." _ "It‘s taken us a year to learn. To know what we‘re getting and where to go for, not necessarily the best price, but the best quality," Lund said. Lund and Basler would like to eventually become a gift shop as well as afloral supplier. They‘d like to carry quality wicker furniture, ceramics, brass, "that sort of thing. We would like to become Be Creative Floral and Gift," Lund said. Oneâ€"toâ€"one service is what a customer should expect upon TAKE NOTICE THAT the Engineering Committee of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, af a special meeting to be held in Committee Room "B", 8th. Floor, Marsland Centre, 20 Erb Street West, Waterioo, Ontario on April 3, 1986 at 7:00 P.M., will consider a byâ€"law to adopt plans for widening and altering Erb Street (Regional Road Number 9) from Caroline Street to approximately 120 metres west of McDougall Road in the City of Waterloo THE PLANS referred to above may be seen during office hours at the office of the Commissioner of Engineering, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, 7th. Floor, Marsiand Centre, Waterloo, Ontario. Enquiries may be directed to WR Pyatt, P Eng. Director of Design &A Construction, at the above address, or telephone 885â€"9457 AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE THAT the Committee will, at the said meeting, hear in person or by his or her counsel, solicitor, or agent, any person who claims that his or her land will be prejudicially affected thereby. DATED at Waterloo this 3rd. day of March, 1986 RECONSTRUCTION OF ERB STREET CITY OF WATERLOO arrangement with handâ€"wrapped E. Stettner, Regional Clerk , Regional Municipality of Waterioo entering Be Creative. Customers choose what they want from their colorâ€"coordinated display board and one of the ladies helps to put it together to see that it looks good. "It‘s not a serve yourself type of thing," said Lund. ‘"We really try to help as much as we can." "We‘ve learned through cusâ€" tomer feedback," said Basler. "You listen to and talk with them and get to. know what they are looking for and what they like to work with. We‘re consumers too, and we know what we want." As for, the future, the ladies would like to get more educated. ‘"We‘d like to better ourselves, get more education,"" said Lund. CÂ¥ m _