Little Bit of Country, after three decades of being in downtown Sapulpa—two of those decades in the former Morton’s Department store at 124 E Dewey—has moved and landed in the new (old) location at 7 N. Park Street, just a half-block off of the former home on Route 66 where she was for years.
There’s a familiarity about it that makes the transition easier: thirty years ago she started upstairs in the same building, a store she aptly called “Diane’s Attic,” where she sold her crafts, art pieces and home decor.
“I did a lot of crafts,” she said. “I cut my own wood shapes and painted them, did custom flower arrangements, made a lot of jewelry, painted clothes, painted shoes. I still do some of that.”
Her business outgrew the space in only 8 months, at which point she moved downstairs and renamed the business “The Hitching Post,” and later changed the name again to “Would You Remember.” She would remain at that location for a little over a year before moving three more times prior to coming back to her currently location on North Park Street.
“Then I was here for a little over a year, and then I moved up front when the bookstore moved out,” Gloden said. The front bookstore was called “CJ’s Book Nook,” and occupied the space that was formerly a Rexall drug store, and subsequently became the home of “Isabella’s Collection,” another store another store that has returned to that location after moving. A year ago, Little Bit of Country and Isabella’s Collection shared a space at 124 E. Dewey. Now they’re neighbors on Park Street.
It was about that time that Morton’s building—which had been the Sheriff’s office for seven years—became available and the owner sought out Gloden specifically. “He said, ‘I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse,’ and I said yes, and my husband said no,” Gloden said.
Eventually, her husband relented, and they began working on converting the space back into a retail store. They remained at that location for 20 years.
Diane Gloden got her start doing craft shows, a practice she continued until her husband intervened. “We used to set up at the quarter horse shows, and we had a large booth at the House Beautiful Show. I was doing craft shows every weekend, and finally my husband Gary said ‘I will pay for you to quit doing the craft shows,’ so that’s how I started upstairs.”
Even after she moved to her longtime home at 124 E Dewey, she continued to do craft shows, because they made sense and they were such a big help to the business. They did their last House Beautiful Show 19 years ago, when the tradition came to a tragic end after one of her friends and helpers passed away the morning of the show. “It was just kind of a bad ending to that, so we decided to focus on the building, which is what we should’ve done. Instead of going out to everyone, we wanted to focus on getting the business here.”
Gloden says growing and running a business and at the same time raising a family was difficult, but their decision to keep the family ahead of the business helped keep her priorities straight. “It was supposed to be family first and we were supportive (of the kids),” she said. “The hard thing was when we had three teenagers and trying to focus our time equally was hard. It seemed like there was always somebody left out of the mix.”
In the subsequent years, the Glodens have gotten to be a part of some amazing experiences, including designing a room for the popular “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” television show, and becoming the only retailer for Rustic Cuff in the zip code—a partnership that helped immensely when Gloden’s business suffered roof damage.
Earlier this year, Diane made the decision to sell the building at 124 E. Dewey and downsize. After receiving a cash offer for the building, she moved into her new old location at 7 N. Park Street. The former location at 124 E Dewey was 6900 sq-ft. The new store is considerably smaller. According to Gloden, “the whole thing would fit in the front part of that store.”
We’ve had an awesome experience with the community over the years,” she said. “We have so many people that have supported us, prayed for us sent people to us. So to me this is just will be a different version and a different journey for us.”
Diane attributes the longevity of her decor and boutique business—with everything its been through—to her family and friends’ support. “I wouldn’t be able to make it without my family and friends,” she said. To her right was a great example in Donna Warner, who has been working with Diane for more than 15 years. Warner started as a customer of Diane’s catering and flower arrangements, and hired her to do her daughter’s weddings. “We became friends and she started helping me and never left,” Gloden said. “She’s been trying, but I won’t let her!” she said, laughing.
“I honestly believe that God has placed everybody in front of me on my journey, whether its through good health or bad health, or good business or slow business.”
Still, she says that she’s glad to be back in a space that might be smaller, but is still familiar. “It’s weird, but yeah, I’m very happy. Very happy. Just trying to figure out where I’m gonna put everything.”
“I love it—that’s why I relocated, because it’s still a love of mine, and I think we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
