Myers moves to Moran

MORAN — Myers’ Iola Greenhouse has changed locations. Penny Snell, granddaughter of former owners Jesse and Agnes Myers, has moved Myers’ to Moran.
When the Myers’ sold their business in the mid-1960’s, it became simply “Iola Greenhouse.” After purchasing the business about a year ago, Snell restored her grandparents’ name to the flower shop.
However, Snell did not own the physical structures at her old location, and the greenhouse needed copious repairs, she said.
“With winter coming on, the utilities were horrendous,” she said. So she began scouting for more affordable options.
Now in Moran, the store boasts a warm, homey atmosphere filled with lush foliage plants, deceptively lifelike silk floral arrangements and a plethora of gifts, including antique pill boxes, prints and furniture. Cut flowers are brought in daily.
A comfortable sofa set awaits customers, too.
That was something Snell wished she could have had in Iola.
“I wanted to do something like this, where people can come in and sit down if they have to order flowers for a funeral or wedding.”
Snell still operates “a full service shop” she said, offering wedding and funeral arrangements, birthday and baby balloons, Valentines and Mother’s day bunches and any other occasion for which one might need flowers or a foliage plant.
She still makes daily deliveries to Iola, too, and “my delivery charge has not changed, it’s still $3.50. My customers came to expect that,” she noted. Snell will deliver to Colony and Garnett as well, she said, for a slightly higher fee.
Moving to Moran is a homecoming of sorts for Snell.
Her mother, Alice Madge Stewart, lived in Moran and “operated a floral shop here,” in the ’70s and ’80s, she said.
Moran is proving a good location for Snell, who said her overhead is one third what it was in Iola. The community has been very welcoming, too, she said, with walk-in traffic and neighboring businesses that all refer their customers to one another.
“It’s true what they say about small towns,” she said. “People care about each other.”

IN THE SHOP, lovely tea sets of English bone and Nippon china are interspersed among floral and foliar arrangements. Crystal rosaries, a cast iron bank and kid gloves in their original wooden glove box all are available for purchase. An 1811 King James Bible will turn 200 years old soon, the same time the state turns 150, Snell observed. It, too, is for sale.
Adding gifts to her inventory is something Snell had always planned to do, she said.
She has been collecting antiques “forever — I can’t pass an antique shop without stopping in,” she said.
Original signed prints form a vintage childrens’ book illustrator line one wall, while Oz memorabilia awaits perusal on a shelf. Nearby, a Phalaenopsis orchid is in glorious bloom. “That’s’ the third time this year it’s bloomed,” Snell observed of the finicky flower; six more buds are on the stem.
On display — and available for purchase — are also Christmas villages.
“I will also be carrying poinsettias,” Snell said. “I will have wreaths,” both artificial and real.
The melange of offerings is an approach that suits the space.
At each turn, new and wonderous objects catch the eye, inviting further inspection. With highly affordable prices, there’s no reason not to impulse buy.
Two pieces of furniture, gorgeous wood and glass tea and chocolate cabinets, already display prominent “sold” tags.
“I do take lay away,” Snell said.
An added bonus to customers brought about by the move is expanded service hours.
“The really neat thing about living here is I’m here 24/7,” Snell said. If someone needs after-hours service, “I just tell them to bang on the door and I’ll answer.”
Snell said she kept the name “Myers Iola Greenhouse” when she moved for two reasons.
One, she was incorporated as that business — all her business cards, checks and accounts were established with the name. Most importantly, though, she said it honors her grandparents’ memory.
“When I first set out to do this, it was for that reason,” she said, “to honor them.”
Though Iola is still technically a part of her business name, Snell truly likes Moran.
“I’m very happy here,” she said. The title of a book on a nearby title seems to suit the transformation well. It’s called “Small Miracles.”
Myers Iola Greenhouse is located at 227 N. Cedar St., Moran, across from the Back Forty. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays 9 to 5; and Sundays through the holidays from 1 to 4 p.m.
Myers can be reached at 620-237-4272.