[New] B.J. BOYD Considered It Done

The memory of a successful downtown boutique, and its owner, remain

BY MAUREEN CALLAHAN | PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BOYD FAMILY

Consider it done.” Three words that are short and easy to speak. But to Downers Grove residents who remember B.J. (Betty Jane) Boyd, owner of Consider It Done Boutique, the echoes of these words are endless. From 2001 until she passed away from cancer in 2012, Boyd welcomed the community into her store, named for the mantra by which she lived. A few years ago, Forbes Magazine recognized Downers Grove as “one of the friendliest towns in the U.S.” It’s very likely that Consider It Done played a large part in this decision.

Customers left the unique shop at 5133 Main St., with the perfect gift for any occasion. A gift basket fit for a queen, an exotic drink shaker, or a small piece of hand-painted furniture. But they also departed with a word of encouragement, a laugh, or a general feeling of appreciation from Boyd and her friendly staff. This is simply who she was.

Downers Grove residents recall the seemingly endless line of merchandise offered by this warm and eclectic business. From wall clocks shaped like celestial bodies, to gourmet chips, sauces, and chocolates, to ceramic birthday cake plates, Consider It Done truly offered something suitable for any recipient, in any circumstance.

Colorful birdhouses displayed on the shop’s awning caught the eye of the passerby in the spring, followed by extensive Halloween and Christmas presentations which lit up the store- front for the holidays. “Christmas was her season,” son Nick recalled. “Things got crazy in there around the holidays.” The upside-down Christmas tree, which became a shop icon, stocked hundreds of ornaments still found on Christmas trees in Downers Grove homes each holiday season.

As the business became established, patrons frequented the store as much to shop as to visit the staff. There was a palpable sense of community. It became more like a gathering of friends, from owner to staff to customer, than a trip to the store. Consider It Done became synonymous with a positive experience, whether a customer made a purchase or not. Boyd had a way of lifting up friends and total strangers, alike.

Downers Grove resident Katie O’Connor remembers wandering into the store unexpectedly one day seeking Boyd’s help to create gift baskets for a fundraiser she was planning for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. O’Connor had purchased the items elsewhere and needed advice about displaying them. Unfamiliar with the shop until that afternoon, she left the store with several professional-looking gift baskets, complimentarily wrapped by Boyd herself, along with a store gift card for the event’s raffle.

But it wasn’t just the baskets that O’Connor took away from that meeting almost two decades ago. Newly diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, the uncertainty of a life-long condition weighed heavily on her mind that day. Boyd listened as she wrapped the baskets and offered words of encouragement. “I came away with a better outlook on my situation,” O’Connor recalled. “It was just what I needed, from whatuntil that day- was a total stranger.”

And customers weren’t the only recipients of this type of hospitality. For Boyd, the line betwixt employee and friend often blurred. Eventually, it disappeared. Employee Nancy Svoboda remembers her tenure with Boyd as the best job she ever had. “It was like being paid to talk to a friend,” Svoboda said. Although she had no previous retail experience, one day while in the shop, she mustered up the courage to ask Boyd to hire her. “Without hesitation, she smiled and asked if I could start the next day. I was getting ready to retire from teaching at College of DuPage and it was exactly what I needed at that moment,” Svoboda recalled, smiling.

Many of the former high school students Boyd employed returned for her memorial. Several parents of these employees credit Boyd with empowering their teenagers with self-confidence. Many remember her as a second mom. In high school at the time, former employee Karina Palukaitis remembered Boyd giving her a hug “when I was late one day after having been in an accident on the way to work. She sent me across the street to get the coffee cake from Busy Bee that we always had on Saturdays, instead of reprimanding me.” Palukaitis smiled as she remembered Boyd’s plethora of ‘little phrases’- “run quick like a bunny” if back stock needed to be grabbed from the basement, an emphatic ‘Next!’ if one of one of us was in a fight with a friend or boyfriend.” She really cared about us as people. We knew it.

An enthusiastic and sincere ‘yes,’ when someone pitches an idea can change a person’s life. Boyd was someone who took chances on people. She offered them a place to start. Boyd’s former employee Wendy Tarman recalled Boyd’s generosity of spirit, as well as shelf space, when

Tarman proposed selling greeting cards she had created, in the store. “She was my biggest supporter,” Tarman recounted. “It was B.J.’s confidence that encouraged me to get my cards into other boutiques as well.”

When 16-year-old Downers Grove resident Jon Pagels approached Boyd about selling his handmade cigar box purses, Boyd told him to consider it done, immediately placing an order for what would become one of the store’s overall best-selling items. Today, Pagels is Head Designer of Women’s Fashions at Zara. All because someone took a chance on a young person’s idea.

In addition to encouragement, “she gave to any community event. She never refused anyone,” recalls husband, Ken. “Not only was it kind, but it built good relationships. That leads to good business.” Rather than competing with other businesses, daughter Annie Boyd-Ramirez remembers that her mother “took care to respect other stores’ previous relationships with product lines, so each store could offer unique items,” Boyd-Ramirez said. “My mom wanted people to shop everywhere in town, not just her store.”

Boyd made her mark on DG via one of the most successful boutiques to ever set up shop. Her contribution to paving the way to a more vibrant downtown business district will be remembered. Everyone hopes to leave this world having somehow improved it for the better. Boyd should consider it done. ■