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Suzanne Haberman
8 | June 2009 Community Impact Newspaper • Georgetown/Hutto/Taylor Edition
Business Profile Dreams to Treasures Taylor
Owner Samantha Mundkowsky and mother-in-law Shirley Mundkowsky
By Suzanne Haberman
For Samantha Mundkowsky,
the ties that bound beads, ironworks
and paintings to dreams
were faith and family. She built
up the boutique Dreams to
Treasures with encouragement
from her husband, Ronald, the
steadfastness of her mother-inlaw,
Shirley, and in memory of
her father-in-law.
“It’s been a lifelong dream of
mine,” Mundkowsky said.
Mundkowsky has always been
crafty. As a stay-at-home mother
of three children on a farm in
Taylor, she nurtured her talent by
creating necklaces, earrings and
flower arrangements and teaching
herself to paint.
Her early works sold at craft
shows all over Texas and on
consignment at local shops. The
reputation she earned as a local
craftswoman landed her an
invitation to sell merchandise in
teachers’ lounges at Taylor and
Pflugerville schools.
“It was between the craft shows
and all the schools that I built up
my clientele,” Mundkowsky said,
noting she would not have opened
the store without that base.
Then she started getting calls at
home. Instead of filling occasional
special orders for last-minute gifts,
she opted to open her doors to the
community. In October 2004, she
put all her works on display in her
first shop at Hwy. 95 and Sixth
Street, a space measuring 150 sq.
ft. Now, she operates a larger shop
filled to the brim with her own
crafts, works of local artists, woodcrafters
and iron décor vendors.
Mundkowsky researches suppliers
to find the products that fill her
customers’ demands at the right
price. The effort has helped her
achieve her sales goals.
“I’d rather sell in more quantity,”
she said, as opposed to selling
fewer expensive items.
Over the past five years,
Mundkowsky has leaned on her
family. Shirley works at the store
and arrives early each day to
make coffee.
“She has been my rock,”
Mundkowsky said.
Over the coffee, Shirley has had
the opportunity to remind Mundkowsky
why they are successful.
“Without faith in God,”
Shirley said, “it would have
never worked.”
Faith carried the Mundkowskys
through rough times that threatened
their progress. Shirley’s
husband died in a house fire in
September 2004, just one month
before the family planned to open
Dreams to Treasures. They considered
postponing the opening, but
decided against it.
“We knew if we didn’t,” Mundkowsky
said, “he would have been
disappointed.”
Ronald had faith in his wife’s
ability to manage the store. He
encouraged her to try it for a
year and contributed by making
decorative metal cutouts. He even
thought of the boutique’s name.
Mundkowsky said she remembered
going out to the garage at
her in-laws’ house where Ronald
crafted metal into crosses and
angels. She told him they needed a
name to put on the tax forms.
“We’re dreaming about this,”
he said, “What about ‘Dreams to
Treasures’? The things we make
become someone else’s treasures.”
Suzanne Haberman
Treasures
• Carved wooden crosses
• Decorative iron
• Necklace, earrings, watches, bracelets
• Purses and wallets
• Floral arrangements
• Painted saw blades
• Scarves
• Candlesticks
• Doilies
n
79
BUS
5th St.
Main St.
Dreams to Treasures
423 N. Main St.
352-5952
2nd St.