Best Specialty Shop IN OAK CLIFF Best Specialty Shop IN OAK CLIFF

VOTE ONCE A DAY, NOVEMBER 1ST UNTIL NOVEMBER 21ST. And the winner is …

Rose Garden Remake (835 W. Davis)

Kelly Wiley opened her second-hand store on West Davis 16 years ago.

Now known as Rose Garden Remake, its mission to help formerly incarcerated women continues.

When David Spence bought the building in the 800 block of West Davis, he asked Wiley to move from an enormous corner space into a smaller space in the middle of the block.

She says it was one of the best things that ever happened to her business. The move forced her to get rid of things she didn’t need or that weren’t working for the business. The new space is fresh and clean and more orderly than the old one.

The shop is tied to a charity, 2000 Roses Foundation, which helps women coming out of jail to find housing, job training and education opportunities. The women who live in the foundation’s partner shelters work in the shop as part of their job training, and they have mentors who have gone through the program before them.

“We’re making sure everybody is supported,” Wiley says.

Women who work in the store also make candles, clothing, pillows and jewelry to sell.

“I love what I do,” Wiley says. “As long as it’s something that I love and still have a passion for, it just drives you.”

Runner up: Zoomo’s Pop-up Shop

Third place: Collector’s Crypt

SNEXT UP:

Visit oakcliff.advocatemag.com/bestof2014 for a roundup of all the ‘Best Of 2014’ winners.

STEPHEN KING once advised aspiring writers, “Kill your darlings, kill your darlings even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart — kill your darlings.” What did popular culture’s most prolific horror writer mean by that? That good storytelling often requires nixing superfluous parts, no matter how much the author loves them. Each month when we publish the Advocate magazine, photos and anecdotes we adore are often left scattered about the figurative cuttingroom floor. Please allow us to indulge our egocentric little hearts as we share the more fascinating photos and tidbits from 2014 that almost lost their lives in the interest of brevity and limited page space.