Myra and Tom Gaylord, who have operated a parking-lot striping company for 20 years, opened a second business last week that focuses on health and vitamin supplements.
The Gaylords opened B. Boomers Health Inc. on July 2 in West Jacksonville in Venetia Plaza, 5393 Roosevelt Blvd., Suite 8. They incorporated the business in May.
They began Acme Striping & Signing Inc. in 1993 in Jacksonville. Acme stripes parking lots, training courses, airport runways, taxi lanes and other areas. They incorporated it in 1996.
B. Boomers is an indoor business, which is more comfortable in the summer.
"The heat is about to get us," Myra Gaylord quipped.
She said B. Boomers Health offers vitamins, supplements, some health foods, sports-related items and nutritional drinks, facial and personal products and more.
She said the business is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, although that can be adjusted based on customer demand.
"We will be willing to come in early and stay later if that is what our customers demand," she said.
Their interest in health supplements dates back to her former job with a health-foods distributor in 1980-81.
"I have always been one to take vitamins and supplements and eat right," she said.
The biggest motivation comes from her care of older family members and reviewing their medications.
"They didn't know what they were taking," she said. "There are side effects and I started researching and tried to find them better things to heal them versus masking the problems, and that is probably what got the ball started," she said.
Gaylord is quick to explain she is not saying all prescription medications are bad, but that some mask conditions rather than provide healing.
Gaylord said the potential customer base is growing.
"There are a lot of us baby boomers out there. If we are not careful, we will be in the same situation our parents are in," she said.
She said she and her husband will continue to operate both businesses until they believe B. Boomers can make it on its own.
The couple has no employees at either business, although they use help as needed.
For information, visit their Facebook page, B. Boomers Health Inc.