Jun 23, 2007

Carrying on a Bountiful traditionBy Nicole TsongSeattleTimes.NWSource.com

Edmonds —Todd Waddell was 14 when he first went to The Weed Lady, a quaint gift store owned by Joan Searle. He would play with crickets on the back porch while his mother sold her Nigella pods to be added to flower arrangements.

As an adult, Waddell continued to shop there, keeping Searle updated about his work first in customer service at Nordstrom, then at Ravenna Gardens as a manager and visual merchandiser.

So when Waddell mentioned last year that he wanted to open his own home and garden store, Searle, whose husband had been urging her to retire, had an idea.

Searle cared about the kind of business that would replace her in the space she had occupied since 1979, and with Waddell’s gardening background, visual sensibility and history with the store, it seemed like the ideal choice.So over lunch one day, she offered to help Waddell take over the little house at 122 Fourth Ave. S.

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