Armed with a business and behavioral management degree, Diana Thatcher - Splendor's founder and owner - enjoyed many successful years in commercial real estate. Reaching the age of 40, she felt drawn to nurture her inner artist and began researching alternative business ventures.
Gardening as a therapeutic outlet naturally led her to love garden art and ornamentation. In 1995, after 18 months of research, she capitalized on the lack of such garden art in the Dallas area and opened her first retail shop, Splendor In The Grass. Located across from the Dallas Arboretum’s Public Gardens, for nine years, Splendor offered garden art, stained glass art, fountains, wind ornaments and statuary to the metroplex area.
As the gardening trend began to wane, Splendor relocated to Lakewood Shopping Center re-conceptualized as a gift gallery. Now in the upscale neighborhood of Lakewood, Splendor still offered garden art with an added focus on finished jewelry, inspirational items, hanging art glass, fragrance, gifts & cards.
Within a couple of years, the jewelry business had grown substantially and Diana begun buying strands of semi-precious beads to make into custom necklaces, bracelets, & ear rings for her customers. She was hooked. "...what fun it is to touch and feel all those wonderful stones – wish I could sell beads...” she mentioned to her brother one day. His reply: “Why don’t you buy some strands, hang them up, and see if they sell?"
That was 4 years ago, and Diana has bought and sold more strands than she ever imagined. In the summer of 2006, the Lakewood store was once again remodeled and re-conceptualized, focusing on its growing bead boutique aspect.
