Business & Tech
Meet the Owners: Lori Gillick and Becky Kelso
This Shakopee duo runs Eagle Creek, a quilt shop that operates out of the towns old train depot.
Sitting next to the railroad tracks on 2nd Avenue in Shakopee sits the old train depot. Built in 1909, the unique building looks much like it did decades ago with its old checkerboard floor and vintage wood trim. Visitors from all over still walk through the depot, but not to travel anymore. Instead customers flock to the depot for vibrant colored fabric and advice on their latest sewing project. The depot now serves as the home of Eagle Creek Quilt Shop.
“This place was vacant for decades before we got in here,” Co-Owner Lori Gillick said. “We did a lot of work to get this place cleaned out and ready to operate as a quilt shop.”
Gillick and business partner Becky Kelso, spent four months stripping the depot back to its original beauty. But these two owners are no strangers to hard work. They planned to open their shop months earlier at The Landing, but a fire in 2001 wiped out their business weeks before they opened. Unwilling to give up, Gillick and Kelso set out to find another home for their business and were finally able to open their shop at the depot in 2001.
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“Maybe it was all a blessing in disguise,” Gillick said. “We absolutely love this building and couldn’t be happier.”
With more than 3,000 bolts of fabric in the store, an expert quilter always on staff and a variety of classes, the shop is a booming place. Some even call it their “hangout.”
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“It goes back to the days of quilting bees when women would quilt and catch up,” Kelso said. “We’re seeing women return to that concept and really embrace this age-old art once again.”
Customers both young and old say there is something inspiring about the quilting tradition.
“Quilts don’t have to look like something from gramma’s bed,” Gillick said. “There are so many trendy new ways to make a quilt that the younger generation really wants to learn this skill.”
Both women have quilted for decades and say their business is just an extension of their passion. A passion they want to share with others as more and more people learn the craft.
