PHOTO BY AMANDA GARCIA | ANTIQUE BOUTIQUE: Family-owned business continues to provide excellent service and one-of-a-kind antiques for its customers. Texas Ivy sells items such as vintage glass, retro furniture, rare glass and various other collectibles.
Tammy Luksich
Sports editor
One woman’s love for antiques has blossomed into a unique stop along Amarillo’s Route 66. The Carroll family has continued to promote the rich heritage of Sixth Street since they became entrepreneurs more than thirty years ago.
Their story began on Sixth Street after Willis Carroll and his wife, Mildred, became owners of an auto sales lot in 1983. Willis and Mildred raised their four children, Linda, Dora, Cynthia and Allen, in Amarillo.
In 1997, the family purchased the home next door to the lot. The home was built in the 1920s and still has its original home settings of an old-fashioned bathtub, refrigerator and stove.
Shortly after the purchase, Mildred and Linda, turned the home into an antique shop.
“My mother [Mildred] always wanted something that reflected her personality,” Linda said. “This small store fit that.”
The name Texas Ivy was Mildred’s idea. Just before the store was opened, Dora’s daughter, Ivy, died of ovarian cancer at the age of 19. Mildred combined her love for the Lone Star State and the loss of her granddaughter into one-Texas Ivy.
After Ivy’s death, Dora and her husband moved to various states across the country. In 1999, Dora, and her family moved back to the Panhandle to help her mother and sister run the shop.
Besides being an entrepreneur, Mildred was also an active part of the community and continually found ways to give back by volunteering at absentee polls and numerous other occasions. Milldred was well known in the community for her kindness and generosity.
“She [Mildred] was 100 percent giving,” Linda said. “She was only 4’9” tall, but she had a huge heart for helping anyone.”
Neighboring shop owners seemed to share the same affection for the little lady.
“Everybody knew her,” Pat McVickers, Pink Flamingo storeowner, said. “She was just a wonderful person.”
Sadly, five years after the opening of Texas Ivy, Mildred passed away. Linda was co-owner of the store and she inherited the business. Linda also worked another job as an environmentalist. Dora took over as the director of sales and services for Texas Ivy.
“My sister was working all the time so I took over the store for her,” Dora said. “Everything has just fallen into place ever since.”
Linda said that while Mildred was alive, the daughters made it a tradition to plan road trips to go antique shopping.
“We would always stay at a bed and breakfast,” Linda said. “Then we would wake up and go shopping.”
The sisters, Linda and Dora, continue this tradition today with thoughts of their mother traveling with them in spirit.
“I’m proud of being able to do something that my mother always wanted,” Linda said. “Especially when I buy something I knew she would have liked.”
Mildred’s love for antiques and people seems to have been passed down to Dora, as she remembers her mom and Sixth Street.
“When we were young, my mom always brought us down to sixth street,” Dora said. “There has always been lots of antique shops we would go into and look at.”
Through her tenure as a shop owner, Dora said she’s also grown to be more appreciative for the history of the street.
“Route 66 is a great thing,” Dora said. “Anyone who is part of it knows that it changes you a little because when you say, ‘Route 66’ people know what you’re talking about.”
Linda and Dora said they encounter a variety of people that come into their shop.
“We see people from all over the world,” Dora said. “That’s something I normally wouldn’t get with a different job.”
Among the location for Texas Ivy, Linda and Dora said another reason customers come to their store is for their reasonable prices.
“We strive to find unique things at a price people can afford,” Linda said. “We also look for specific items that people collect.”
Some of these items include pottery, vintage class, retro furniture and much more.
“It’s great because I get to handle stuff that I wouldn’t normally own,” Dora said.
These antiques are small pieces of art almost anyone can enjoy. If someone happens to be traveling and sees an old stone building with a picket fence, they should stop in.
They probably will not be greeted by an older woman, but instead, her daughter, Dora, will be sure to provide some of the best customer service.