Founded in 1986, the Sunshine Shoppe and Greenhouses was established by Danny and Kristy Quinn who had recently started their lives anew, first with a marriage, followed by the business that they’ve been “married to” ever since.

The couple met through their previous jobs as Danny Quinn was a truck driver and Kristy Quinn was the shipping manager for a pet food company. Shortly after the two married, Kristy Quinn told her employer that she wanted to take her hours down to a standard full-time schedule of 40 hours per week.

Her boss then told her she would need to choose between her job and her husband. Over 30 years later, Kristy Quinn said she’s still satisfied with choosing her husband.

Danny Quinn had owned the property at 802 Putnam Ave. for years — his father previously had a new and used furniture store at the location— and rented it to the Salvation Army. Upon their marriage, the Quinns decided to open up a shop when the lease expired.

“We were both broke, didn’t have a dime to rub against a dime,” Danny Quinn said.

His wife wanted to own her own shop, so the two made it happen.

“I just wanted like a little, just a little shop to sell, you know, things in, and then he kept experimenting with plants,” Kristy Quinn, said.

Kristy Quinn took on the shop aspect and left the plants to her husband who, he said, knew nothing about growing.

“I had a friend of mine tell me, he said, ‘Why don’t you do a greenhouse,’” Danny Quinn said. “I don’t know nothing about flowers. I had trucks, I worked on ‘em and drove ‘em. And then I built my first little greenhouse, and it just went from there.”

Thirty-three years later, with two green houses, Danny Quinn’s lack of planting experience would be unbeknownst to customers who walked through the rows of hanging baskets and budding plants.

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“I learnt with the school of hard knocks, honest to God, because I didn’t know what an impatient or petunia or a fern (was), I knew nothing about plant material.” Danny Quinn said. “Trial and error.”

Although he’s had a healthy amount of experience with plants over the years, Danny Quinn said every season brings its own set of challenges to the business.

As he was learning, Danny Quinn said he had several phone conversations with people at Ohio State in the horticulture department to troubleshoot ideas.

“That type of business out there, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing then you’re not going to do it because it’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” he said.

Both Danny and Kristy Quinn said the plants are very demanding to the point that they can’t go too far out of town to eat in case something goes wrong. Kristy Quinn recalled a time the couple went to Eagle Sticks for dinner with a friend and her husband got a notification that something was wrong with the systems in one of the greenhouses. He jumped up from the table and drove to the shop, leaving Kristy Quinn there with their friend.

Danny Quinn said he missed out on a good steak dinner that evening.

Aside from growing plants for Danny Quinn and running the inside of the shop for Kristy Quinn, the couple said customer service is a large aspect of their business.

There are plenty of places to compete with, especially during the spring months when people are looking for hanging plants and budding flowers, but the Quinns said they work diligently to provide customer service that’s unmatched by larger stores.

“You go to the box store and you go check out with a hanging basket, it’s here’s your stuff, hit the door, right,” Danny Quinn said. “You buy a basket here, him (the Sunshine Shoppe’s sole employee) or myself’s going to carry it out, we’re going to put a thing down in your trunk, we’re going to put it in your car. You’re not going to get that at the box store. We thrive on customer service.”

Inside the Sunshine Shoppe, Kristy Quinn offers a variety of artificial flower arrangements, wind chimes, music boxes and garden-based items. One of her most popular items is her colorful wooden roses, Kristy Quinn said.

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While there are many challenges that have come with owning their own business, the Quinns said they’re happy with the way things turned out for their little shop.

“He always said, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ So you gotta try. And we stuck to it,” Kristy Quinn said.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Danny Quinn responded.

The Sunshine Shoppe is located at 802 Putnam Ave.

The Sunshine Shoppe and Greenhouses is Y-City New’s business spotlight for the month of March.