Belgian Rose Ripens Into Wild Cherry

True to its name, Wild Cherry contains an abundance of furniture, clothing, purses, and other accessories adorned with cherries. Photo by Len Villano.

What first caught my eye as I approached the Sturgeon Bay shop’s open door was the rather unorthodox flower display on its front step: there, delicate yellow blossoms were rising up – between the handles of a dirt-filled purse. Upon entering the Wild Cherry, I was met by a milieu of other one-of-a-kind pieces, including painted denim jackets, framed photographs hanging from the rungs of a ladder, and a futon swing. These surroundings suited perfectly the two women behind the desk, who sat gabbing and laughing together amid their artwork.

Both Ardus Dubois and her daughter, Sherry Young, have always had penchants for creative improvement. “If it stands still long enough, something’s gonna happen to it – that’s one of our sayings,” Sherry declares. To prove it, their Wild Cherry store is packed with upscaled furniture, clothing, and other household or personal accessories, all conceived and carried out by the mother-daughter duo. Yet they only became official partners this past September. For many years, Ardus ran her own shop, the Belgian Rose, which she eventually moved from downtown Sturgeon Bay to the ground level of her Carlsville home.

In January of 2010, a fire on the third floor, caused by the battery from a cordless drill, decimated the house. Fortunately, Ardus and her three visiting granddaughters escaped unharmed, a blessing for which the entire family thanked God over their turkey dinner a few hours later.

Despite the fact that it brought her mother’s business to a long halt, Sherry now calls the fire “a lifesaver.” She explains how, with good insurance, this last in a series of personal tragedies allowed Ardus the rest she needed to recuperate from the others.

Four years later, on the very day they began looking for a location to start another store, mother and daughter serendipitously discovered that the same space that the Belgian Rose had occupied a decade earlier was available again. This time Sherry, who had begun selling her own designs under the name Wild Cherry, joined Ardus. Then, in the old spot, they opened a new shop with the new name.

Now Ardus and Sherry are beginning their first summer as co-owners—but even when it was just Ardus with the Belgian Rose, she was far from the only one involved. The two recount how the whole family would come over to Nana’s (Ardus’) house to load up the trailer the night before an art fair and then all go along to set up the next morning. Since they were young, the granddaughters have occasionally created their own art for the shop; later, they helped run it too. “They all want to work the cash register!” an amused Ardus exclaims. But the greatest aids to these women’s artistic endeavors, both past and present, are their husbands. So often when they are discussing their many projects, they mention how the men attached this or applied the finish on that. In Ardus’ words, “We go, ‘You know, dear, I want to build this, and they – they’re just there to help us.’”

A painting of cherries adorns a wall of Wild Cherry. Photo by Len Villano.

“It’s always been a family thing,” she concludes.

Sherry and Ardus also receive a multitude of handy-me-downs to “do something with” from all their extended family members, but more importantly, their very talents are inherited. Along with her Norwegian name and love of flowers, Ardus acquired her skill with crafts from her grandmother. “The fooling around…that’s where it got born in me,” Ardus says. Then she adds, gesturing toward Sherry, “The sewing got born in her, from my mother.” Sherry points out her grandmother’s sewing machine on the counter to her left, still frequently used. “We always feel, well, like my mom and my grandma are still around us,” imparts Ardus. Through four moves, she still has the irises that her grandmother dug up for her when she first married, and now her own daughters and granddaughters have them at their houses too.

The importance of home and family to these two mothers is even evident in the purpose of the shop. They advertise all their pieces as the manifold furnishings for ‘Cottage Life.’ Every home is itself a work of art, and these women have made it their vocation to enhance the beauty of other people’s homes. Yet as a painting must be positioned or a play performed, a house must be lived in, so most of their “art” is also useful, especially for ever-growing families. They love to create “go anywhere pieces” and to add storage space wherever possible. “We want people to come in and be able to set up their house,” Sherry tells me. For this reason, she and Ardus are very conscious about keeping their prices low – they intend for “someone else, who lives on a budget too,” just as they always have, “to be able to come in and say, ‘That’s cool! I can afford that!’”

The very way Ardus describes what they do reveal her mothering nature: to her, each of their pieces is “an orphan, an orphan! You know, that you get somewhere and you want to bring it to life.” This is what she considers her projects with reclaimed wood, like when she turns an old barn door into a dining room table, mouse hole included. As Ardus goes on explaining, Sherry bursts in, “My mom’s that guardian, you know, like the foster parent? You’re a foster parent.”

“I have been a foster parent,” replies Ardus nodding, “and at my house I’ve always had a revolving door.” They seem to have a revolving door at the shop too: the place frequently doubles as a daycare for the grandkids, and is often visited by family members or friends stopping to chat.

Finally, mother and daughter speak about working a store together and the significance of cherries. “I think we’re better artists together than we are separately,” Ardus says. Sherry immediately agrees with a nod: “We can feed off each other…edit each other.” Both women have their own specialties and styles, which makes the shop a more interesting mix, they say, than when it was all Ardus’. Even when they paint the same thing, like a cherry, they do it differently. Ardus’ are more “realistic and detailed”; Sherry’s are more “whimsical.”

True to its name, their shop contains an abundance of furniture, clothing, purses, and other accessories adorned with these different cherries. Why cherries? Sherry started it on account of pure love for the fruit, yet Ardus says they have continued because “they give you kind of that county, cottagey feel that we like – it’s not formal like roses, it’s not cutesy like little cutesy animals.” But again, it also goes back to family. “Hey, every holiday, Christmas and Thanksgiving, there’s nothing without a cherry pie,” insists Ardus.

We talk all the way till closing time, which I imagine would never be hard to do with these ladies. As at last I leave their shop and step out into the street scene once more, I look down again at the pansies in the purse. Bobbing gently in the wind, the little flowers emanate both glee and grace – just like the women who planted them.

Wild Cherry, located at 58 West Maple in Sturgeon Bay, is open 10 am – 5 pm, Monday – Thursday; 10 am – 6 pm, Friday and Saturday; and 12 – 4 pm on Sunday. For more information call 920.559.3283 or search “Wild Cherry Cottage Life” on Facebook.

Erin Monfils is a rising senior at a tiny, Catholic liberal arts college in southern New Hampshire. Born and raised in Minnesota, but fortunately by two Wisconsin natives, she has long considered Door County a permanent home away from home. This summer, she is staying with her grandparents on the hilltop north of Sister Bay while she works as the Arts and Entertainment intern here at the Pulse.