Bijou Lovely — named for DeGroot’s great-grandmother, Bijou — was established in 2016 in downtown Iron Mountain as a place where she could sell her fabric collections and quilts.

Just three years later, the quilting department represents only a quarter of what the store offers.

“Once we opened, we evolved into more gift-type items,” DeGroot said.

DeGroot has added plants, candles, U.P. shirts, bath and body items, soaps, handmade jewelry, stationery, water bottles and handmade headgear such as scrunchies, hats and headbands.

The Bijou Lovely staff, from left, in back are Kelly Jaeger, Hannah Bowles and Rylee Palmer; in front are Laura Palmer, owner Holly DeGroot and Gabrielle Revord.

“We make a lot of the products here. We have a couple of local artists that we try to get wholesale items from, but a lot of the girls that work here make jewelry,” she said. Store employees include Laura Palmer, Riley Palmer, Hannah Bowles, Gabby Revord and Kelly Jaeger.

A member of the Iron Mountain High School Class of 2002 and a 2006 Michigan Technical University graduate, DeGroot worked full-time in the Chicago area as a biomedical engineer for Zoll Medical before moving back to Iron Mountain in 2010.

“We came home to be closer to family,” she said. DeGroot is married to Adam DeGroot, also an Iron Mountain native, and her parents, Bill and Pam Revord, still live in Iron Mountain.

After continuing to telecommute with Zoll from home and traveling for business for about five years, DeGroot was tired of being on the road and wanted to stay nearby, so she quit her job to pursue her own business.

While looking for store space, DeGroot came across the former Stevens Decorating building at 300 S. Stephenson Ave. The historic Iron Mountain structure, originally a depot for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, was just the unique location she was looking for.

“We completely gutted the building and took it back down to the brick and completely restored it,” she said.

In addition to a photography studio, fabric and gift shop, DeGroot also uses the space to teach sewing, macrame and embroidery workshops. Although she doesn’t have any workshops now scheduled, DeGroot said she will start offering them again after the holidays. Usually on Thursday evenings, the workshop schedule can be found at Bijoulovely.com.

DeGroot learned to sew as a child, watching her mother Pam Revord make dresses. She continued to sew occasionally throughout her childhood years.

Her patterns and products have been featured in multiple quilting magazines and

her photography has been published in craft books, including Anna Graham’s “Handmade Style” and Krista Fleckenstein’s “Beyond Cotton,” both published by Lucky Spool and available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.

DeGroot also designs and sews quilts for fabric companies.

“A lot of the things in the store are available online as well. Primarily we sell the fabric online but a lot of people buy the sewing supplies and gift items as well,” she said.

Theresa Proudfit can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 245, or tproudfit@ironmountaindailynews.com.