By Mike Finney

SMYRNA — The numbers simply added up, and it all just made perfect sense when Dover’s Bob Robinson and Smyrna’s Gail Bard were contemplating opening up an artisans’ shop stocked with their goods and others from area craftsmen.

For Mr. Robinson, also known as “Indian Bob” because of his Blackfoot Sioux Native American heritage, and Ms. Bard, joining forces and opening Indian Bob’s Creations and Backyard Jewelry by Gail in the Stover Plaza at 5609 N. Dupont Highway in north Smyrna has been a three-year journey.

For that period of time, they have lugged their inventory from weekend craft show to weekend craft show, enduring the elements, damage to their products and, for more than a year now, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, when the two U.S. Army veterans officially open their shop Friday at 10 a.m., they will have a 600-square-foot facility they can call home to their handmade products, as well as some other wares supplied by friends.

“Well, it’s been three years in the making, and I decided that I’m tired of doing shows,” Mr. Robinson said. “You set up stuff, and it just seems to get torn up while you’re setting it up every time.

“I believe that getting our own storefront was just inevitable. We ran across the right place that came along at the right deal.”

Ms. Bard will be the person who staffs the store for most of the week, while Mr. Robinson works his day job at Bowers Signs.

She said she will gladly take on her new challenge.

“You don’t have to worry about the wind and the rain, the cold weather and everything else,” said Ms. Bard. “It’s nice not having to go out, and we’re getting the chance to meet a whole bunch of new people.”

Mr. Robinson said the new shop in Smyrna should pay off when it comes to helping him manage his time.

“With my (craftwork) just sitting at home through the week, if I’m not doing a (craft) show on the road for the weekend, it’s just been sitting around not making any money,” he said. “So with this (store) here, people can come in here and see my work.

“I can just build stuff and put it in here, and it doesn’t get dinged up, and the customers get it in a pristine mode versus getting torn up. I’ve got a couple (wooden, handcrafted) flags that the wind picked up at a craft show and just slammed them and tore them up. I had one that the wind just literally destroyed it.”

The inside of the store looks a lot like some of the shops one would venture into at the beach.

It will be home to uniquely crafted collectibles, custom carvings, Harpster Designs items, American flags, country home decor, wooden signs with catchy sayings on them, birdhouse gourds, lighted bottles, jelly candles, garden flags, essential oils — and, interestingly, hot sauce.

“This is going to be your hot-sauce destination in Smyrna,” Mr. Robinson said. “We’ve branched into a bunch of different stuff now. We’ll do custom orders. Anything that you want. ... Bring me a photograph of something you want, give me an idea of some colorings, then give me a couple of days, and I’ll do a proof on my computer with it and send it to (the customer) and let them look at it. Then, once they give me the go-ahead, then we can make it.”

Mr. Robinson will also be marketing electronic message boards for other businesses and organizations that he currently installs in his work with Bowers Signs.

Ms. Bard said that it wasn’t a difficult decision for her to become business partners with Mr. Robinson.

“He was just really funny, and we just got along,” she said. “We have a lot in common because of the military. I try to stick with people who have military (backgrounds) because they understand the experiences that I’ve been through.”

This two-veteran business venture almost seemed inevitable.

Mr. Robinson was involved in the construction industry for 40 years, until he was diagnosed with lung cancer four years ago. His doctors told him he couldn’t go back to work.

That’s when he took up a little hobby — making things like lawn ornaments and custom cornhole boards.

“I had lung cancer,” he said. “I’ve only got one lung, but it doesn’t stop me, I’m still getting up and moving. With the pandemic thing going on and everything, I’ve worked every day in it.”

Then, suddenly, he took a look around, and his hobby was getting bigger and bigger by the day.

“I’ve met people like Gail (Bard), and her and I, we’ve done a lot of (craft) shows together. We’d often sit and talk about, ‘We’d love to have a store … love to have a store,’” Mr. Robinson said. “Well, we got one.

“It’s been a long time coming. I’m tickled to death. We’ve been getting a lot of good feedback and everything. We’ve got a lot of people on Facebook that are waiting for us to open. So, next Friday, May 14, at 10 a.m., it’s on!”