Check out how this historic service station was transformed into botanical marketplace

Together, Liz Flowers and David Royster combined creative forces and, through a labor of love, transformed a former gas station into a beautiful market.

Belvedere Station, a botanical market near the historic Belvedere neighborhood off Marion Street, is a unique and charming addition to Shelby. Vibrant flowers spill out of planters at the entrance while wooden benches, repurposed from a mall, invite people to sit in the shade. A large, old coatrack has been converted into a sign near the road, just one of the many ways, both large and small that the two visionaries found ways to upcycle and repurpose the old into something new and weave past and present together.

The building, at 713 E. Marion St., started out life as Wilson's Gulf in 1961, and over the years also served as a car detailing and wash before sitting empty for the past 6 or 7 years.

Flowers, who leases the space for her shop, partnered with the Royster family who owns it, to transform the building over the span of several months into a botanical marketplace. The store offers fresh produce, bread, goat cheese, a beer and wine selection, and various botanical products, including plants, spices, decor and kitchen items.

After Flowers retired from a long career in Georgia, she said she was talking to Sally Royster, a friend of hers, and was telling her she wanted to do something with landscape design. She said the two were chatting, and she was just kind of thinking out loud when she mentioned she thought she wanted a shop.

"She said I need to put you and my son together. I think you might have a shared direction."

Flowers, a certified landscape designer with a mastery certification in design and horticulture from N.C. State, offers design service,s and David Royster is a principal with Capitol Funds, Inc. a development firm.

When Flowers and David Royster met at the site of the former Wilson Gulf service station to discuss a future project, she immediately was on board.

"I turned and looked at the building ... and said I don't know what we're doing here, but the answer is yes," she said.

The building was a blank canvas.

She said the two instantly connected over their shared vision and started discussing creative ideas.

Flowers said the name Belvedere Station is a nod to both Wilson's service station and Belvedere Park, the nearby historic neighborhood.

David Royster said initially the plan had been to tear down the building and sell the property.

"And then, we were just really enamored with the architecture of the building. It's very distinct," he said.

He said it has a great traffic count, is within walking distance of hundreds of houses, and is located near the Hive Coffee drive-thru, which is in a repurposed bank, and near the strip mall on Suttle Street. With the transformation of both those locations, the Roysters decided to find new life for the small building.

"I wanted to do something that was going to have more of a community impact than just another car shop even though that's what it was set up for," Royster said. "In my search, Liz and I got on the same page and teamed up and we kind of got almost carried away with some of our ideas. We both saw the building and what it could be and so much more. It was kind of blank canvas. Liz has done more to the building than I ever envisioned as far as aesthetics, the appeal, even the plants. You got the contrast of the service station of fossil fuels and work and now its more about art and beauty and community. That transition was pretty key for this project. Liz was really the only person who could have done this."

They hope it can also serve as an example of what can be accomplished throughout Shelby and how buildings can be repurposed into something new.

"I feel like it's a demonstration project," Flowers said. "The way the space is now, the way the building is now, somebody could come in and see their future. Not just this building but other buildings around town."

She said she isn't just renting space for a shop, but is creating community, providing a space for women to sell their products who can't afford a storefront, and demonstrating how to re-use and upcycle.

Flowers said the shop has products from local and regional crafters and growers and is centered around all things botanical.

"It can be a pretty broad category, but it keeps me centered in choosing some of the products," she said.

There are future expansion plans for the site, including a greenhouse.

There is outdoor seating where families can enjoy a mocktail or cocktail and play a game of cornhole.

"As the store evolves, the location evolves, and other areas in Shelby I hope will continue to evolve," Royster said.

He said it is a rising tide that lifts all ships.

On Aug. 7 there will be a pop-up event from 5 to 7 p.m. with Old North Farm. There will be live music, a demonstration on how to make mocktails and baked goods available from Milk Glass Pie.

Reporter Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Former Shelby service station finds new life as botanical marketplace