The Cottage Basket gift shop opens downtown

Owning a small business and having a child with special needs might not seem to go hand in hand. At least that’s what Shelli Morrow thought eight years ago, when her middle child Ellie was born with a chromosome abnormality. 

Morrow was told by doctors that her daughter would never walk, talk or eat by herself, and she fed Ellie through a gastrostomy tube for the first three years of her life. Today, Ellie is a second-grade student at Edgewood Elementary who can do all three of those things without help. 

As a way to celebrate her daughter’s freedom and the fact that she herself had more free time, Morrow decided to open The Cottage Basket, a unique gift shop, on June 1. 

“I opened it as a sign of hope for myself, because for so long I thought ‘I’m just going to be a mom taking care of a special needs kid for the rest of my life,’” Morrow said.

Since the opening of the store at 1816 28th Ave. S., Suite E, Morrow said “the door is constantly opening” and she has made it mission to be a store unlike any other in the area.

Offering ‘“happies,” monogramming and free wrapping, Morrow said she is told on a daily basis that she’s the only place nearby to grab small gifts to give to friends. To make the new business stand out, the store offers items that other local stores don’t sell, such as Glenda Gies bags and Corkcicle cups.

“I really wanted to have things in my store that no one in Homewood or even Birmingham had,” she said.

The idea of opening a store goes all the way back to Morrow’s childhood. 

“Even when I was a little girl, my mom said I would set up shop with something different every day in the playroom. It was always just in the back of my mind,” she said.

Before opening the store, she had a few concerns. As a mom to two other kids — Graham, 10, and Harper Kate, 6 — Morrow was skeptical about owning a store and taking care of them, but after pushing her fears aside she did the thing she knew would make her happiest.

She was also worried about the location since it isn’t on the nearby, bustling 18th Street, but she figured if people liked what she had they would come, “and they have come.”

“I feel like with anybody, when you own a business you kind of have to push that fear down like, ‘What if it doesn't succeed?’ So I just had to say, ‘If it doesn't succeed, then it just doesn't,’” Morrow said.

She plans to keep the store at its current location for a while, maintaining that quaint and happy feeling, she said. 

“This is truly my dream,” Morrow said. “Even though it’s only 500 square feet, it’s the best little place.”

To learn more about the store and browse new items, visit their Instagram page at @cottagebasket.