Shop Brings ‘Systers’ Together
By MEAGAN COLLINS
Contributing Writer
DOWNTOWN JENKS: Sisters Diana Pierson, left, and Jane Sundgren stand in their new antique shop, Systers, which opened in downtown Jenks a few months ago.
MEAGAN COLLINS for GTR Newspapers
It’s not every day two sisters who enjoy each other’s company get to run a company together. Diana Pierson and Jane Sundgren do just that.
“We’ve always had a passion for shopping for antiques together,” Sundgren says.
But it wasn’t until 2012 that their love for antiques manifested itself in a brick-and-mortar store named Systers, located in Disney, Oklahoma.
Why the different spelling?
The store’s name is inspired by their family’s Swedish heritage and their sisterly love, says Pierson. Their father was a full-blooded Swede, the Swedish word for “sisters” being “systers.”
Long before the women opened their shop in Disney, Pierson owned a boutique in Edgewood, Texas, and participated in weekly markets.
Sundgren has collected antiques all her life: “We’ve always grown up with antiques,” she says.
In May, the sisters made the decision to move their store from Disney to a bigger market in Jenks’ Arts and Antiques District at 211 E. Main St.
While they had been planning to move for many months, it wasn’t financially possible until May, says Pierson. Then, in a turn of luck, the space that they now occupy became available the day they were going to sign a lease for a smaller space down the road.
Pierson and Sundgren are happy that they have been able to capitalize on the traffic on Main Street since they moved in.
In Disney, the sisters noticed that people weren’t interested in shopping for antiques because of the town’s proximity to Grand Lake: “Everyone wanted to be on the lake,” says Pierson.
However, in Jenks, “we’ve opened up to a totally different group of people who are excited to be downtown,” she continues. “This is a great opportunity for us to showcase our items in a way that they need to be showcased.”
Systers sells one-of-a-kind furniture, home décor, vintage rugs and jewelry.
They offer mid-range prices with nothing over $800 and are always open to bargaining, notes Pierson.
The women also hope to offer classes at their new location in the future that would be held in an open area at the back of the store. They plan to supply materials and charge a small fee for people to make whatever they choose.
Pierson says that the classes will be diverse, such as making arts and crafts and repurposing and refurbishing furniture.
Systers is open Thursday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Updated 08-27-2017
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