Hello, my name is Cyndi Jackson and my husband is Ernie; we are the owners and operators of Country Bumpkins of Wichita. We have five children, none of whom are involved presently in our retail business. When we began our Country Bumpkins business we had little expectation of growing; however, customers have been very kind to us - our business has grown beyond our expectations.

The genesis of our retail business was caused by our oldest daugther's illness. We wanted to aid her with employment. Thus, we opened our Country Bumpkins Craft Shoppe in a one room store, which contained all of our handmade crafts. Business was good, not spectacular. Our daughter informed us that she was not happy working in retail business and wanted to return to school. So we hired other individuals and began our magical trek into retail life. That was in 1999!

In 2000, our small store had a fire and we lost nearly everthing but the building itself. Because business was good and we were enjoying meeting new folks, we decided to rebuild our small business. Hence, we started building display pieces and larger sale items. After a year and a half, the street by which we were located was scheduled to be widened, which meant we would lose parking and our operation would be interrupted. Since we had limited parking at that location, we investigated moving to another location.

We moved our store to the historical College Hill region and found a whole new and exciting world. It seemed that the match between our business and others located near us was perfect. Our business continued to grow and prosper.

As everyone is aware, life in the United States changed after 9/11/2001. Our store took on a new and exciting reputation - we already had many sale articles of rough wood on which was painted special versus depicting survival. These items added to our reputation and built our enthusiasm for the retail business in country crafts and nostaglic items.

As our business grew, in 2002 we changed our name from Country Bumpkins Craft Shoppe to Country Bumpkins of Wichita, with the dream of franchising our concept to other cities, Country Bumpkins of Oklahoma City, Country Bumpkins of Kansas City, etc.

Currently, we are expanding our business to the internet. As you see the site has a limited catalog of merchandise, mainly larger items, all hand made by our family members. We have a treasure trove of smaller craft and nostaglic items that are sold in our shop at 3543 E Douglas, Wichita, KS 67218. Many of the items are shown in the vignettes shown, on the Shop Vignettes page. We would be happy to assist you in finding "that difficult to find" (or one of a kind) item by telephone (316.612.2512) or e-mail (countrybumpkinsofwichita@hotmail.com). However, we should remind you that most of the smaller merchandise in our shop may have been sold since the photos of the vignettes were taken. But give us a call or e-mail and we will try our best to assist you.

Our pledge to our customers is: pleasant and fair treatment, quality country crafts and nostalgic items, and a warm and friendly country greeting. Come visit us and browse our shop.