A NICE CHAT: CRAFT SHOP OWNERS MAKE FRIENDLINESS A BUSINESS ROUTINE

DELTA -- Sipping from a cup of coffee, Billie Waddle settled in for a chat, just as she chats with the frequent visitors to her craft shop, Waddle-N-Crafts.

"There is always a pot of coffee going," she said. "And I have a lot of people stop in to browse and just to chat."

Waddle and her husband, Rodney, lived in Cape Girardeau for 30 years. When the couple decided to start their craft business, they moved to Rodney's hometown, Delta.

"The people in Delta have been terrific," Billie Waddle said. "A lot of time people will just sit down, visit, and have a cup of coffee. Sometimes they will buy something; sometimes they won't. There are a good bunch of people here in Delta."

Sitting at the painting tables in the back of her shop, Waddle recalled: "When we first started, all we were interested in doing was hitting craft shows. I like to paint; Rodney likes to cut wood."

The shop opened in April 1988. It is open Wednesdays through Saturdays.

"At that time is was a place for me to paint, and we thought we could display a few things."

Since the shop opened, the Waddles have not exhibited at a single craft show. "The shop has been so busy we didn't have time to prepare for a craft show," she said.

But now they are working for a show in May at Fredericktown.

"You make more money at a craft show," she said. "But it's a lot more work. I paint one item for the shop. For a show, you must have at least 14 of each item."

Waddle estimated 80 percent of her business is by special order.

"People like things that are personalized or made to their order," she said. "Someone will see something they like but want it in mauve instead of blue. That's why I usually only make one. Then I can make something the customer really wants."

She and her husband visit craft shows to check on their competition. "Everything we handle is different than what we see at the craft fairs," she said. "I try to make it look pretty, but it's also useful recipe boxes, towel racks, quilt racks, tissue holders, step stools."

Waddle began painting because she was searching for a hobby.

"I'd been home rearing my family and decided it was time to do something for myself. I had seen different things other people had done and thought, `If they can do a lot, I can do a little.'"

She took painting classes. "A lot of painting is technique," she said. "And you can learn that technique."

Almost all of the items in the shop are made of wood. "People like wood, and it's durable. You don't break it, and wood can be beautiful."

Waddle drafted her husband into the craft business. "He cuts about 95 percent of my wood," she said. "He enjoys it though. It's so much different than what he does all day."

He is a surgical assistant at a Cape Girardeau hospital.

Waddle said, soon after the shop opened "people were interested in taking painting classes."

She teaches canvas painting classes on Thursdays and "anything-goes" painting classes on Fridays. "They have painted rocks, glass, sweatshirts, wood, anything they want."

She has six regular students on canvas. "Three have been with me since I started. Most of the time my students come in the morning and stay all day, until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Once you get into it, you get hooked," she said.

The shop is in an old horse barn that has been converted.

"It was just a building that was deteriorating when we decided to start the business," Waddle said. "We were looking for a place and considered building a new building, but decided to remodel this building.

"We didn't have it in mind when we started, but it will be a good retirement hobby," she said.

"We own the business, and, if we want to go to Florida or on a trip, we can close up. But we're not the kind of people to sit around.

"In the craft business you don't get rich. If I don't consider getting paid for my time, I do alright. I just can't count the time. It's a hobby and the shop supports that hobby."