Working in the former Jan’s Flower Shop in West Liberty as a student at West Liberty High School, it didn’t take long for Charles Brooke to realize he was destined to get into the floral business.
Eleven years later, Brooke’s dream has become reality as he opened Three B’s Floral in June, at 110 North Columbus Street in West Liberty, next to CarQuest Auto Parts.
His experience with Jan McCrabb, who closed her shop several years ago after retiring after 41 years, was instrumental in creating his own shop and carrying on a near century old Brooke family business tradition in the area. It started with his great grandfather Clare in the tire business, before his son Tom got into the petroleum/oil business, followed by his son Darren with a hardware store, and now an auto parts store. The young Brooke called it a “proud” family history of successful business ventures.
While going to college, Brooke worked for Wallace’s Garden Center in Bettendorf, then went on to work at Disneyworld for several years before returning to his hometown to eventually become the director of the West Liberty Chamber of Commerce, a role he had for two years.
He said Jan helped give him the skills and business knowledge to guide the shop and doesn’t leave out the possibility of creating a landscaping business down the road. “This is a start – we’ll see where it goes,” said Brooke, who is a one-man operation that hopes to grow into several employees.
Playing off the name his grandfather Tom Brooke created for a band his father and two uncles performed years ago, the Three B’s, the shop was provided a unique name, although Brooke says the three B’s stand for “Botanicals, Blooms and Bouquets.”
The shop definitely provides such floral items, and Brooke says he’ll create just about anything by simply bringing him suggestions. “If clients bring me an idea, I can usually work with it,” he said.
The shop handles all kinds of special occasions, like funerals, celebrations of life, anniversaries, birthdays, business parties, special events, quinceaneras and especially weddings, which Brooke says he’s already booking into 2026.
But the shop carries more than flowers, as Brooke has worked with local in-home businesses to add to the variety in the store, including handmade pottery by WLHS art teacher Morgan Forbes, handmade key chains and fobs by Diane Brooks, products from the Merrill Soap Company in Muscatine, greeting cards by Katie Brooks, Tyes Tuition Jams in Iowa City and candles from the Millhouse Candle Company near Mason City. There’s even boxed chocolates.
Brooke said he started working on the shop about a year ago while creating some business from his home garage after finding a West Branch farmer who was selling his meat locker cooler and working with West Liberty State Bank. “I wanted a big cooler because that was one of Jan’s biggest complaints – her cooler was never big enough for things like weddings and funerals,” he said.
After some construction inside the building, he contracted Shawna McLeod, a local artist, to paint some murals for inside his store, which has a lot of character, including at least a dozen signs with special quotes or positive verbiage he’s collected over the years.
McLeod created a special painting behind the check out counter of his great great aunt Beryl, a “proud” gardener, combining her face with Golden Girls actress Betty White. He was never allowed to change the TV channel until the Golden Girls program had finished when he visited. His grandmother Bernice Caskey also encouraged Brooke as a child to go into the floral business, either as a designer or gardener.
The store’s regular hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and Saturday from 9 a.m-1 p.m. Brooke says the store will also be open on Sundays during the holiday season and is considering expanding his hours to accommodate customers who work out of town.
Three B’s Floral delivers for free to West Liberty, Nichols, Atalissa, Moscow and West Branch, but charges for delivery “past the rivers.”
Brooke has also connected with students in West Liberty schools, talking with seniors about “reinventing themselves” and has been working with the award-winning West Liberty FFA Chapter on projects.