Though the sketch depicts her father and his siblings, it’s reminiscent of childhood years spent in the lakeside village.

“I feel like I’m back home,” said Carlson, who opened her full-service flower and gift shop, located at 141 Chautauqua Ave., early last week.

The granddaughter and daughter of Robo Enterprises, Inc. founders “Augie” and George Carlson, she spent the last 14 years working for the family business before “COVID-19 made me realize more than ever that we have to do what we love,” she said.

“This is what I started out doing years ago,” she said, noting a 12-year stint at Girton’s Flowers in Jamestown. “I got to the point when I was at Robo that I wasn’t using my creativity and I wasn’t seeing people that I was missing and I was just kind of there.”

Kim Carlson stands with the sign for her Pea Pod & Juniper shop sign and her two granddaughters, Penelope and Juniper, for whom the shop is named. Submitted photo

Paired with continued grief over the loss of her son Alex to a heroin overdose four years ago, she decided this was the time to pursue her passion.

“I think when I’m creating, I’m healing,” she said. “But I think that’s true for anybody when they are creating something, there’s a healing component. For me and for a lot of other people, there’s a healing component in being around flowers and being in a space that has good energy and happiness. It’s got that good feeling.”

Carlson offers unique and custom flower arrangements and also features a wide variety of high-end gifts.

“This wasn’t just for me,” she said. “I have several friends who had small businesses who have been negatively affected by COVID and for me starting out a business, I didn’t want that commercial ‘Everything is brand new,’ I wanted them to be able to bring things to my store so that they could continue with their passions also.”

That includes artwork by her daughter Aleida, local baked goods and items on consignment.

“There are things in here on consignment but I don’t even dare call it a consignment shop because this is nothing like a consignment shop,” Carlson said.

“But, I do have old and I do have new and I have very hard-to-find things. I have one-of-a-kind things. I wanted something that was unique and different. I hate the overly manufactured things that people have settled on before. Every single person is unique. Every single person’s thoughts are unique and everyone has their own way of doing things and I wanted to fit into that lifestyle.”

The amount of space also gives her room to be creative — she hopes to begin classes at “The Flower Bar” in January.

“I hate going into a store where you can’t move and you can’t breathe and you feel like somebody is breathing down your back and for COVID. We need to have some space,” she said, noting that the space also gives her the opportunity to offer a different sort of service.

“When my Alex passed away, I had a lot of people come to me asking for help with recovery,” she said. “I’ve had people come in and they just want to come in and talk. I can work and talk at the same time. I want everybody to come in.”

“With COVID, we’re cleaning, sanitizing over and over. We keep an eye on some of the things that people might be touching and discreetly we’ll go and wipe it off. We just want people to come in and get away from the stuff that’s going on out there. Just come and enjoy. Listen to the music. Enjoy the flowers. Enjoy conversation, whatever the case may be.”

And, as for the name? An ode to her granddaughters, Penelope and Juniper, and their innocence.

“A friend of mine said, ‘You know what? You need to open a flower shop. I’ve got the name for you: Pea Pod and Juniper,'” she said. “I went with it because when I look at my granddaughters, they don’t really care about COVID, they don’t have worries and fears, they like to dance around to music, they like colorful things, they like soft things, they like cozy things. They like to see things that are new and different and I wanted people to feel that when they came in there.”

She added, “I wanted people to be in a place that’s a little different than some of the other places.”

Pea Pod & Juniper is open Mondays and Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.