By Mike Finney

DOVER — When Jewell Brooks was looking to find a home for her medical wear store, she kept going back to the city’s downtown area.

A spot at 32 W. Loockerman St. is lining up as the perfect fit for Sha Scrubz & Apparel, she said, especially since neighboring business owners offered support and made her feel like part of the fabric of the district.

Plus, it also doesn’t hurt that the site is close to many major health care facilities in Dover.

Ms. Brooks drew quite a crowd to her grand opening Saturday, as the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting.

“It took me probably two months looking for a good place to kind of land the business, and honestly, I kind of circled back here to downtown Dover,” Ms. Brooks said. “Everybody’s been friendly, and the Downtown Dover Partnership is great. The businesses in the area have been very supportive.

“I’m just glad that I was able to find an opportunity and a location where it’s comfortable and everyone’s friendly and supportive. It’s great.”

Sha Scrubz is a medical apparel and uniform retailer that offers stylish, cozy and customizable scrubs and apparel. It features in-store and online ordering, and accepts individual, group and bulk orders.

“I specialize in health care,” said Ms. Brooks, who moved to Dover from Pennsylvania two years ago. “What we do in this particular business is sell medical uniforms to hospitals, (certified nursing assistant) programs, community colleges, all kinds of things.

“This is a growing, billion-dollar industry. The need for scrubs is ever-expanding, and I’m just glad that I can be a part of the process. This thing is going to move fast. It’s going to move real, real fast.”

Luckily, the only difficulty during the grand opening was a stiff breeze, leading to some balloons from a celebratory arch blowing away.

That aside, Ms. Brooks said she is looking forward to the journey she is embarking on. She is also thrilled to be a part of Downtown Dover Partnership’s revitalization plans.

“Downtown Dover looks like it could use some enhancement, and I’m excited about the area,” she said. “There’s a lot of people (who welcomed me) here when I first moved here, and the encouragement that I’ve received … coming to Delaware has been amazing.

“I’ve been getting nothing but positive feedback. It’s been awesome.”

Ms. Brooks added that, since her relocation from Pennsylvania, she has felt right at home.

“I already have an extreme amount of support and interested providers, neighboring providers, that are interested in partnering with me, and that’s why I’m getting (Sha Scrubz) going,” she said. “Everyone reached out to me in an amazing way.”

For information, contact 302-363-4485 or shopscrubz@yahoo.com.

Staff writer Mike Finney can be reached
at 302-741-8230 or mfinney@iniusa.org.
Follow @MikeFinneyDSN on X.