THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411190194
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK DUROSE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
I SEEMS APPROPRIATE that te new gift store in Lynnhaven Colony Shoppes on Shore Drive would open its doors just days before Halloween. The store is called Will O' The Wisp, an old English and Scottish term for the light supposedly given off by wandering spirits, and where folks got the idea for jack-o'-lanterns.
And while owners Evie Myatt and Janet Watson don't really think of themselves as wandering spirits, the feeling of magic and enchantment the term conjures up does suit their approach to the new store.
An assortment of out-of-the ordinary gifts and collectibles, clothing and accessories, jewelry, gourmet food and fairies and sprites, angels and antique dolls greets visitors.
The women's personal interpretation of the name is somewhat more grounded in the practical realities of retail, however. ``It's an old term my mother used to use,'' explained Janet Watson, whose Scottish accent is still strong from her upbringing in the enchanted isles, even after 30 years in America. ``It means something that's here today, and gone tomorrow. So, will o' wisp means, if you like, you better buy it, because it might not be here when you come back.''
Watson has owned Fiona's, the kiosk of curiosities at Pembroke Mall, for more than four years. Evie Myatt is the proprietor of Echoes of Time at the oceanfront, a shop that specializes in vintage clothing, period costumes and other antiques.
A common ground is that both shops depend primarily on repeat clientele who appreciate the eclectic tastes of the two women. Another similarity of the separate businesses is how the two women got involved in them. They both report initially becoming involved in retail by accident.
Watson walked out on her 14-year job as a bookkeeper in downtown Norfolk over an employment dispute, and was looking for something else to do. Her ties to the Tidewater Scottish community led her to a fellow Scot, Elizabeth Gore, who was taking up gem-faceting, which entails the finding, polishing and shaping of gems for settings.
``That's how I got started attending different types of buying shows,'' recalled Watson. ``We got into wholesaling, and suddenly we had our own business called Caledonia, which is the traditional name for Scotland.
When she left that venture, she wasted no time in applying the experiences of accounting and wholesaling to a completely new, but related enterprise: retailing. ``I had to do something,'' said Watson, who read of the kiosk for sale in the newspaper, took her savings out of the bank, renamed the business after her eldest daughter, and ``jumped in with both feet.''
Myatt, on the other hand, said plainly, ``I had absolutely no experience whatsoever to qualify me for retail when I started doing it.''
A newlywed, recently relocated to Tidewater from New Orleans in 1968, she was approached at a party one night by a friend of her husband's family, who offered Myatt a job. ``There was nothing else I wanted to do, so I said yes,'' said Myatt, who quickly became bridal consultant for the former Rose Hall Dress Shop. Before she knew it, with no experience to qualify her for it, either, she was doing weekly television program for then WTAR (now WTKR) called ``Bridal Boutique.'' The show ran for six months, the job for a couple of years and then the owners filed bankruptcy.
For a while she bought into a Merle Norman franchise. Then her husband, Thomas, died, and she slid into a depression. She remembers, ``I was at a loss as to what to do with my life.''
One day, a friend invited her to an antique auction. ``It was the first time I had really enjoyed myself since my husband died. I started going to auctions and estate sales all the time, until I had so much stuff I didn't need, I decided I should sell it.''
She opened a small shop on Granby Street that was open only occasionally. ``As other people would go out of business, I would buy their stock, and it just materialized that I kept expanding, I needed a bigger space, and so I moved back to the Beach.''
After the '79 relocation of Echoes of Time, Watson came to Myatt wholesaling her faceted gems. The two began doing business and quickly became friends. When Watson made her move into retailing in 1990, Myatt would often accompany her on buying trips to gift shows around the country.
``We'd see all these wonderful things,'' said Myatt, ``But I couldn't incorporate them because they weren't right, or they were too new, and Janet couldn't get them because she didn't have the space. But there were definitely some things that we both loved, and that I wanted to work with, if we had the place. So, Janet started saying that we needed another store.''
``I really thought I was too busy,'' said Myatt. ``But after four years of her talking about it, what started as a casual comment became more and more of a reality.''
And the reality has become increasingly hard work. Because each woman has another business to run, getting this new one off the ground has been a grueling process, requiring 100-hour work weeks on both parts.
As a result, Watson claims her house ``has gone to pot.'' Myatt's primary complaint is the paperwork that keeps her up until 1 or 2 every morning.
But even though they are hard at work, it's more a labor of love than anything else. As they introduced visitors to the store and its merchandise, they were almost like a couple of schoolgirls playing at being storekeepers. When pointing out their assortment of Kingstate collectible dolls, each was quick to pull out and embrace their favorite.
And sitting far above the cash register is a ceramic statuette of two women, standing close together and smiling. Watson presented it to Myatt as a present for her birthday, which was the same week the store opened for business.
``I just wanted to give her something that reminded her of us,'' said Watson. ``Two women, who seem to be really close, you know, like friends and partners. MEMO: Will O' The Wisp is in Lynnhaven Colony Shoppes, 2973 Shore Drive. The
hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Sunday is by
appointment only. The phone number is 496-8037. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARK DUROSE
Partners Evie Myatt, left, and Janet Watson mimic the pose of a
statue Watson gave Myatt for her birthday.
by CNB