BOARDMAN — Boardman resident Shannon Karl said she would see people walking long distances to visit stores. To help solve that problem, she said, she opened Daisy Lily Thrift Boutique. The shop at 117 S.E. Front St., Boardman, opened Dec. 1.

Karl, a former nurse with Columbia River Health, said she felt her greatest sympathy for mothers and their children. They do not have access to cars in many cases, or they have access but only when another family member returns home from work. This leaves them walking as many as 30 miles to Hermiston for a store.

A closer store was necessary, she said, and a secondhand store was ideal because there are poorer people in the area.

Daisy Lily Thrift sells a wide variety of donated items, from toys to clothing, books and more.

She named the store after her daughters’ birth flowers, the daisy and the lily.

Makenzie Karl, born in April, has the daisy as a birth flower. Jasmine Karl, born in May, has the lily of the valley as a birth flower. The flower names come together to form Daisy Lily, which their mother used as the name of an earlier business, Daisy Lily Design. She then started making crafts to sell at local events.

Rather than offering her goods elsewhere, she said she will sell her coasters, dresses, picture frames and other goods exclusively at her new store. Karl also said she is ready for Christmas.

This new career as a small business owner is exciting to her, she said. And while she intends to keep her nursing license and possibly look into online nursing work, she said she wants to see if she likes her new work more.

“The medical field is not getting easier,” she said.

She added that burnout is high in the profession. After 25 years in the field, she said she feels it is “a lot” and she wants a rest.

Karl said she wants to be a value to the community through the thrift store, which provides a place for local people to donate perfectly good items they otherwise would toss in the garbage and that she can sell at affordable prices.

“That’s the main thing,” she said. “I want people to have some place near to go that is budget friendly.”