Couture Closet Boutique - La Grange, KY

123 E. Main Street, La Grange, KY 40031

http://coutureclosetboutique.com

La Grange, Kentucky’s Main Street is one of the few remaining in the United States that has a working railroad go directly down the middle of the street. We’re not talking a three-car streetcar, but a heavy CSX train that runs from Louisville to Cincinnati. (Yes, there are still about two accidents a year when people or cars believe they can out run a train.)

Couture Closet Boutique's storefront (brown awning with white letters)
can be seen to the left of the train engine. Photo by cledwards.

When an antique store closed at this address, Lauren Montgomery and Tera Davis set up shop in January 2007. As twenty-something women, they knew that there were women traveling from Louisville to the bridal district in Cincinnati to find the perfect dress.

They believed if they provided a different experience, one that was more personalized and with dresses women couldn’t find elsewhere, they could pull in customers who wouldn’t have to complete the drive to Cincinnati. They were correct. Now women stop in this small town — with a population just over 8,300 — to receive one-on-one attention and pick from designers such as Hayley Paige, Lillian West and Sara Gabriel. The owners also have a private label designer providing dresses that no customer will find in a magazine.

“We’re very hands-on and pay attention to your details and budget,” Montgomery said, “it’s something I think is lost in retail these days.”

Amongst the quaint shops with an 1880’s look along Main Street, this modern store offers private appointments and promises “a no pressure atmosphere.”

T.G. Music - Goshen, IN

123 S. Main Street, Goshen, IN 46526

http://tgmusic.org
http://www.tgschoolofmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TGMUSICGOSHEN  

Owner Tim Hochstetler grew up in Goshen, Indiana.  He’s a guitarist and composer specializing in jazz, fusion, Latin, rock and classical music. His studies took him west to the University of Oregon and then east to the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Between his junior and senior years, he returned to Indiana to teach guitar. It was then that he knew what he would do.

After graduation, and with the motivation of having a number of school loans to pay off, Hochstetler got to work teaching classes above T.G. Music. At the time, the music store at street level was owned by Tim Guy Robie. (It’s where the T.G. originated.) Robie started the business in 1977 and he found Goshen to be a thriving music scene. By 2004, Hochstetler was able to buy the building. Robie continued to handle all the retail until retirement in 2013. It was then that Hochstetler took over the store as well.

T.G. Music is known for doing repairs on guitars and amps and it has a wide selection of new and used guitars, drums, pianos, violins and musical accessories.  Hochstetler, who is also a professor at nearby Indiana University South Bend, and his staff teach lessons for all the instruments they sell in the store.  The school features 20 of what Hochstetler says are Michiana's best music teachers, experienced in all styles of music. This includes Grammy Award winner Johnny B. Gayden who has performed with the Staples Singers, Son Seals, Junior Wells and KoKo Taylor, to name a few. He teaches bass to a few dozen students of all ages and different skill levels.

Located in the northern part of Indiana, the population of Goshen is just more than 32,000. Hochstetler says it still feels like a small town. The historic Main Street hit hard times in the early 2000’s. Hochstetler says there were many run down and vacant buildings. Since then, there has been an effort to revitalize the area. From 2004 to 2006, downtown went through what Hochstetler says was a “Goshen Renaissance.” People bought up old shops and started renovating.

Hochstetler is still in the process of renovating. After buying the building, he put in an apartment and an office for a massage therapist in the back. He hopes to fix the façade in the next year. The building was erected in the 1890’s and housed a bank. After the Great Depression, it transformed into a hardware store in the 1930s. The giant bank vault in the basement remained. Hochstetler uses it today to store valuable guitars. “Only Tim Robie and I know the combination,” he says, “Robie had to originally figure it out by using a stethoscope and listening.”

Customers who stop in to buy an instrument or have something repaired never know who may pop into the store. Members from the band moe. have come in. The Bros. Landreth also stopped by to check out some gear before playing a nearby concert venue. Even actor/director Steve Buscemi has been in while on location for the film, “Lonesome Jim.”

Sometimes Hochstetler thinks he would like to come up with a cool jingle for the store, “down at 123 Main Street,” he sings. “Something like the Empire Carpet song.” He likes the easy-to-remember address and says he gets a kick out of people who write it down on a piece of paper after he tells them where he is located.
 

Prairie Dog Café - McLaughlin, SD

123 Main Street, McLaughlin, SD 57642

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrairieDogCafe

Located in the North central section of South Dakota, the city of McLaughlin easily has more prairie dogs than people. The 2010 census listed the human population at 663; it is the largest city on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Hunting the burrowing rodents for sport brings in people from around the world. The task is necessary as the animals create a hazard to the land where cattle and horses roam.

When Mary Petersen’s husband, Jerry, relocated the couple to the area for his insurance business, Mary was sure McLaughlin was “the end of the world.” After 30 years, she embraces the wide open area where there are no stop lights and living is, “free, easy and laid back.”

Previous owners had let their restaurant go, but the community still the needed a good gathering place. Thus, the Petersens decided to take over the business in 2004. Open daily from 7 am – 2 pm, they serve breakfast and lunch. The restaurant stays open until 8 pm for the Thursday rib eye steak special and on Fridays for Jerry’s Rockin’ Ribs barbecue. The barbecue brings customers in “from all over” from the week after Easter until the week before Thanksgiving. The cold South Dakota temperatures then give way to Fridays inside and hearty offerings like chicken fried steaks.

The restaurant’s specialty is the Prairie Dog Mound: a breakfast of hash browns piled high with red and green peppers, onions, ham, bacon or sausage, topped with Swiss and American cheese and eggs made to order.

Located about a block off the I-12 Interstate, McLauglin’s Main Street runs for about eight blocks and is the main area of commerce. The Petersens didn’t give a second thought to their address when they got into the restaurant business. However, Mary wonders if other businesses have the same problem with mail orders as they do: “No one believes this [123 Main Street] is a real address…especially Federal Express, they tell us it’s an inaccurate address and will kick it back. We have to use our home address to get things delivered.”

SnS Skate Shop - Farmington, NM

123 W. Main Street, Farmington, NM 87401

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SnSSkateShop

Farmington, New Mexico sits at just under 5,400 feet elevation in the northwest corner of the state, an area commonly referred to as the Four Corners.

On March 18, 1950, the local Daily Times newspaper reported, “Persons along Main Street once again could be seen looking skyward and pointing.” For the third consecutive day, flying saucers had been reported over the town. “Fully half of this town's population still is certain today that it saw space ships or some strange aircraft -- hundreds of them zooming through the skies.”

Today, SnS Skate Shop owner Daniel Diswood says what he sees on Main Street is a bit of a “ghost town” that is trying to work its way back. “In its heyday, it used to be big,” he says, “but JCPenney and Woolworth’s closed in the late 1980s.” The main area of commerce moved to the east side of town.

Then, in 2013, USA Today reported that Farmington was the second fastest shrinking city in the United States. (Pine Bluff, Arkansas ranked highest.) Between 2010 and 2013, Farmington's population dropped by 2.72 percent. The community is driven by oil and natural gas industries. Ray Hagerman, CEO of Four Corners Economic Development, said, "When it's no longer economical to be drilling in the basin, for example, then the jobs are going to disappear and people are going to leave."

Diswood says he believes in this community and does what he can to promote small business. He started his shop four and a half years ago. After college, he worked a number of retail jobs, including some time spent at another skateboard shop. “I found it to be too corporate,” he says, “It was more about making money than supporting the skateboarding scene.”

Wanting to have a place that was all about skateboards and the customers, he opened SnS Skate Shop. In addition to a large supply of short- and longboard equipment and accessories, local artists showcase their work and local musicians come in to play. He hosts a big two-band event on Black Friday every year. When live music isn’t playing, customers can often hear the talents of area DJs who come in to spin.

While there are two skateboard parks in town and two others within a 40-minute drive, kids aren’t the competitive types hoping to go pro. Many of them are just like Diswood was growing up, “It was the purest kind of skateboarding…an anti-sport where you could hang out with friends, go whenever you wanted to and listen to music.”

His clientele is changing a bit. While many are teenagers, he sees older skateboarders who are now grown and bring in their kids. Diswood does a lot for his young customers, everything from sponsoring a number of events throughout the year to holding “how-to” and safety clinics.

In addition to the locals, Diswood sees a fair share of tourists. More than 2,000 years ago the Anasazi lived in the area in pueblo structures built from native sandstone rock. These ruins fill the surrounding countryside and visitors come from around the globe to see them. “People read all about cowboys and Indians and come here thinking this is still the wild, wild west,” he says. The cowboy and Indian stuff is all fantasy, but Native Americans still live in the community. Diswood is half Navajo.

While the dwindling population is notable, it hasn’t yet hurt business. “The hardest thing,” he admits about his small business, “is the Internet.” Kids come by with new boards and Diswood finds out they bought them online. They don’t always realize Diswood’s ability to create customizable boards and provide other incentives with purchases such as free gear, stickers or other items.

But he enjoys being at 123 Main Street. “Sometimes people give me a funny look when I tell them the address,” he says. The novelty wasn’t something he realized when he first signed the lease, “or I would have called it 123 Skate Shop.”

The Tavern on Main - El Segundo, CA

123 Main Street, El Segundo, CA 90245

thetavernonmain.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Tavern-On-Main-125484910808943/

Main Street runs north-south for all of 10 blocks in El Segundo, California, and then it dead ends on both sides: at Imperial Highway near Los Angeles International Airport on the north and at El Segundo Boulevard to the south. Because it’s not easily accessible, The Tavern on Main owner, Kristian Krieger, says that people who come to Main Street, “intend to come here.”

Since 2002, patrons have come to Krieger’s establishment with regularity. The building housed a dive bar from the early 1960s through the late 1980s. In 1986, when it was known as The Keg, the bar was featured in the Jeff Bridges film, "8 Million Ways to Die." Krieger says that an auto garage tried to make a go of it in the space for a while before it became a dive bar again, right before he purchased the location.

While a student at UCLA, Krieger organized numerous frat parties and, while majoring in geography, always wanted to open a restaurant/bar. After college, he worked for a college nightlife newspaper selling ads. That’s where he really got to know the businesses in the area. Soon after, he began to manage some of those establishments.

When he had the opportunity to strike out on his own, he had the concept in mind, but the purchase of the building came about so quickly, he really didn’t know what to call his place. People referred to it as “the tavern” and the name stuck.

Krieger has renovated the space twice since he moved in. In 2006, he expanded square footage by 50 percent. In 2014, he again enlarged the space and now it is double the size from his original floor plan. Today, patrons can catch numerous sports on more than 20 monitors. UCLA alumni often frequent to watch their teams.

The menu features typical bar food: burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and appetizers. Kreiger tips his hat to his family’s native Philadelphia by putting cheese steaks on the menu as well. The beer menu includes imports, domestics and microbrews.  He is also quick to help out his neighborhood craft brewery. “El Segundo Brewing Company across the street always has two or three of our 14 [draft] handles,” he says.

Located on the Santa Monica Bay, El Segundo, which means “the second” in Spanish, was named such because it was the site of the second Standard Oil refinery on the West Coast (the first refinery was in Richmond, California). Taken over by Chevron in 1984, the refinery still exists and employs many in the area. Wyle Laboratories, toy manufacturer Mattel, satellite TV provider DirecTV and medical company DaVita are all headquartered in the city. Boeing, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems are also some of the larger employers. As big as it may appear, with a population of 16,654, El Segundo still comes across as a small town. Krieger says locals call it "Mayberry by the Sea" (referring to the sleepy fictional town that was the setting for “The Andy Griffith Show”).

Being so close to Los Angeles does mean an actor may pop in from time to time, but Kreiger says The Tavern “isn’t a hot bed for celebrities.” Instead, he points out that he’s always wanted his place to be an “everyday place” for people: those who stop after work, meet friends to watch a game, visitors who come in for the holidays and even families who come in for weekend breakfast or early dinners. “They come in for food and then the [20-something] crowd comes in later in the evening,” he says.

Krieger serves patrons well. For eight years in a row, The Tavern was named as having the ”#1 Happy Hour" by the El Segundo Herald Reader’s Poll. The Beach Reporter readers voted the restaurant/bar as the "Best place to meet people.”

This is not lost on Krieger who says, “It’s not just about packing it in every Saturday night, it’s about having something for everybody and keeping busy all the time.”

Melt - Algonquin, IL

123 S. Main Street, Algonquin, IL 60102

http://www.meltpilates.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meltpilates/

Owner Shannon Tampa says she’s been working out her whole life. By the age of 5, she was playing soccer and continued for 18 years. By age 12, she was running to the local rec center in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois, in order to lift weights. “I didn’t know what I was doing,” she says of her inexperience, “but I loved working out.”

While she pursued finance and business for her undergraduate and graduate work, her passion pulled her back into obtaining certification as a personal trainer. After stints working for larger gyms, the YMCA and privately as a personal trainer, Tampa set her sites on her own place. “Since high school, I wanted to open my own gym,” she says.

While scoping out her business plan, Tampa found that people in her area were traveling 20 to 30 miles to attend hot yoga classes. She had never taken a yoga class in her life. Tampa waited a while; she was sure that such a venue would open in Algonquin. It never did. So she filled the need.

Finding 123 S. Main Street was exactly the place she wanted. When she met with a real estate agent, Tampa was very specific, “I did not want to be in a strip mall. I wanted something special.” Located in the older, historic part of town, the building offered space for everything she wanted: spa, workout facility and hot yoga.

She opened in 2012, first hiring yoga professionals who advised her on every part of setting up the classes, which take place in 105 degree rooms. Tampa admits that at first she was worried and just hoped people would come. Today, she not only has 15 yoga classes, but 20 Pilates reformer classes, three “Boot Camp” classes, two “Tight N Tone” classes and a handful of boxing classes. Her staff of 10 teaches between 300 and 400 students.

While Tampa aspired to open a gym, she’s quick to point out that her studio is not a gym. The facility is only open when classes are in session. And the “Melt” moniker has a number of meanings. “I didn’t just think about the hot [yoga],” she says, “Melting, like relaxing; you just feel like melting.” This refers to everything from the full-service spa treatments to the exercise that loosens up clients. “Every day, people leave here feeling happy; it doesn’t feel like a job when I see so many people leave here feeling so good.”

Tampa says that the building at 123 S. Main Street is not only full of character, but is also full of that positive energy. Classes are small and personal and the hot yoga allows people to find “me time” and slow down. “There’s a lot of love and good energy…I can’t describe it,” she says. Tampa also finally tried a hot yoga class herself and now finds she’s addicted to it. “It made a huge impact on my life.”

Future Fashion Designers Academy - Mooresville, NC

123 N. Main Street, Mooresville, NC 28115

http://www.futurefashiondesigners.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FutureFashionDesigners

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

Located approximately 25 miles north of Charlotte, Mooresville, North Carolina is the home of several NASCAR drivers and racing teams. In fact, it is nicknamed "Race City USA." It isn’t the first place that would come to mind when thinking fashion design. Yet, here, on a historic stretch of Main Street, is the starting block for many future designers, taught by a true Hollywood fashion designer.

Owner Shawnelle Cherry graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and from the UCLA extension program where she studied costume design for film.  She worked in the Los Angeles garment industry before starting her own design studio in Pacific Palisades, California. There, she specialized in evening gowns for the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes and the Daytime Emmy Awards. In 1995, five of her gowns were worn at the Oscars. During her 20 years in Hollywood, Cherry also had a list of more than 30 films to her credit. 

When she got engaged, she moved to Mooresville and decided to start her own business. The idea came about as her father was going through treatments for lung cancer. She read the book, "One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life" by Kerry Shook.  Cherry asked herself what she really wanted to do. "I discovered what would really feed my soul was to share my talents and teach kids (of all ages) my passion for the art.”

While the engagement didn’t last, the business did. She stayed in Mooresville, opened her doors in January 2010 and offered classes in sewing and design. Students do everything in the process from sketching to draping and sewing. They also show off their work on the runway.

Cherry’s busiest time is summer, when she has camps from June through August. Students as young as 8-years-old sign up for half-day and full-day beginner and intermediate classes. Last summer, almost all the slots were quickly filled.

While there are some other businesses like this in New York and San Francisco, this is the only designer academy in the area. Students come from as far away as South Carolina. Many of the kids Cherry mentors end up continuing with their talents and study fashion design at North Carolina State or Savannah College of Art and Design.

Cherry is passionate about her desire to share her skills and lifetime of experience with kids of all ages and skill levels. To expand her reach, in addition to her in-house classes, she has started Project Sew*Way, an online subscription program where kids can get projects mailed to them on a monthly basis.

“Many kids know how to sew,” Cherry says, “but if they go and pick their own projects, sometimes they are too hard and when they are too hard, they sometimes just quit.” That’s what Cherry says happened during her childhood. She just doesn’t want kids to stop when they have the interest. “We send them the fabric, thread, stuffing, everything they need to do the project.”

The hope is that these easy-to-do projects will not only spark imagination, but also build confidence by seeing ideas take form. Kids are able to build their self-esteem and confidence because they are able to complete the projects.  Even though the kits can be sent anywhere in the world, Cherry keeps connected via an online community.

Now more than six years out of the frantic pace of Hollywood, Cherry notes how much she really likes downtown's revitalized Main Street and Mooresville (which is growing so quickly it now has a second zip code). She adds that there are some perks to having the 123 N. Main Street address. “I get some of the funniest mail,” she says, noting that hers is often used as a test address. One time, she got a package with so many cookies that she couldn’t give them all away.

Leicester Hardware - Leicester, NY

123 Main Street, Leicester, NY 14481

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leicesterhardware?ref=br_rs

Since the early 1900s, 123 Main Street in Leicester, New York has been a hardware store. Anthony Richard Christiano III, best known to area residents as Dickie, purchased the McVean hardware store in the 1940s. He and his family owned and operated Christiano Hardware through 2013.

In 2014, Dale Drew, who owned Drew’s True Value Hardware in Buffalo, New York, was looking to leave the city for the country. He and his son, Doug, starting searching the area for a new location for a hardware store. They found 123 Main Street, which had been boarded up since Christiano’s closed in 2013. After putting in a new floor and setting up the store from the ground up, the store opened on April 1, 2015.

Today, everyone in the Drew family is involved in the business: Dale, his wife Colleen, Doug and his wife, Carrie. Carrie even brings in their five-month-old son, Robert. “At first,” Carrie says, “I worried about bringing [an infant] to a hardware store. Now, I don’t think twice.” Someone in the family is always there to tend to him as they work the business. Carrie says some of the regulars even come by just to check on Robert.

In this small town of 2,200, the Drews know many of the customers by first name. Carrie says Leicester is a sleepy town, somewhat like the fictional Mayberry of “The Andy Griffith Show.” Sometimes people come into the hardware store, not because they need an item, but just to say hello. However, there are also a number of repeat customers, many of them who are renovating older farmhouses in the area. “They’ll walk in and say, ‘Today I’m here for plumbing [supplies],” says Carrie.

Customer service is important to the Drews. They know there are a number of big box stores that stock what they stock and people could go elsewhere. “But we have more than hardware,” Carrie points out. In addition to plumbing and electrical supplies, they have gardening supplies, housewares and items for farming equipment.

As the only hardware in town, customers convey that they like to spend their money at a local, family-owned business. Carrie says the family works hard to give customers what they want. She comments that she learns a lot just by what the customers come in and request.

And, while they knew their location would be “an easy address to remember,” the Drews were careful not to name the hardware store after themselves. “Leicester Hardware,” says Carrie, “had a community feel to it. It’s like we don’t own it, it’s a part of the town.”

Tanya’s…The Girl Garage - Vicksburg, MI

123 S. Main Street, Vicksburg, MI 49097

https://www.tanyasthegirlgarage.com
https://www.facebook.com/tanyasgirlgarage/?fref=ts

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

Ask owner Tanya H. DeLong how her business came to be and she’ll tell you, “It was a God thing, seriously.”

With a degree in accounting, DeLong worked as a financial analyst for Pfizer, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. At Pfizer, they had an in-house art show where she entered a couple of her custom-made purses. Suddenly, colleagues wanted to purchase them from her and then others started requesting them.

A heavenly intervention came in 2006 when DeLong developed a bad case of bronchitis and a 103 degree fever. “I kept having dreams throughout the day about making custom purses for people. And then,” she interjects that someone would think the notion crazy, “I was given an entire business plan.” Even DeLong’s husband questioned how she would make it come to life.

Two days later, a friend called because there was a church craft fundraiser and someone had canceled at the last minute. She asked if DeLong would take the booth and fill it with her purses. She did. Orders came in.

“That was on a Saturday. By Wednesday, I got another call,” DeLong says. Another abandoned booth at another craft fair. DeLong went in and sold her purses. Another 25 orders came in. As she was packing up materials for the day, a woman approached and asked if DeLong would do a home party. By the time DeLong got to the parking lot, yet another woman approached with the same request.

From this, a giant side business developed. Word-of-mouth orders rolled in and requests for parties spawned as many orders as attendees. By 2007, Tanya’s Totes opened in a 10 by 10 space at the front of a local beauty salon. Then, in June 2007, DeLong’s job at Pfizer was eliminated as they laid off and transferred more than 4,000 employees.

Taking some of the funds she got from Pfizer, she took a chance and opened her own shop on Vicksburg’s historic Main Street in 2008. By this time, she’d created 1,800 purses. Customers were also requesting classes and sewing tips. DeLong, who had been sewing since the age of 5, accommodated those requests.

Then, when the painting and yarn supply shop down the street turned more to just painting, DeLong served the customers who were seeking yarn, knitting and crocheting classes. “The purses started dying off,” she said, “we’re a village of about 2,500 and I sold more than 1,800. Just about everyone had one.”

At one point in 2009, one of the male customers at Tanya’s Totes said, “This isn’t a purse shop any more, it’s a ‘girl garage,’” referring to the preferred hangout for men. The name stuck. In August 2014, DeLong bought the building at 123 Main Street. Built in 1850, the building first housed a blacksmith. From 1940 through the late 1990s, an appliance store filled the space.

Today, the front of the shop has more than 89 different yarns and supplies in stock; the old carriage house in back serves as Tanya’s classroom. She holds six classes a week that include knitting, crocheting, tatting, hand embroidery and long arm quilting. In what DeLong describes as a “Norman Rockwell kind of town,” her business is well known on the quaint Main Street where people gather and walk from barber shop and diner to hardware store and art gallery.

Generated by customer request from the start, DeLong says that still about 70 percent of her business is due to someone specifically asking for it. She likes it that way. DeLong says that like so many successful small businesses across the U.S., the focus has to be about great customer service, “People ask about something and I will do my best to find whatever it is, because I can.” And she knows handmade items are valued because “they are a lost art.”  DeLong is doing her best to help people find that art again.

The Laurie Holladay Shop - Gordonsville, VA

123 S. Main Street, Gordonsville, VA 22942

http://www.laurieholladayinteriors.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Laurie-Holladay-Shop-155280871179413/timeline/

In the rolling hills of central Virginia, Gordonsville is located between two historic points: Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello  and James Madison’s Montpelier. Today, the town of 1,496 is described in guidebooks as a charming southern town with quaint shops, acclaimed restaurants and galleries.

Laurie Holladay’s parents, Laurel and Leonard LaPlaca, started Nassau Interiors in Princeton, New Jersey in the late 1940s. Holladay says it had everything from beds and sofas to custom-made slipcovers and drapery. The LaPlacas would often travel to Florida and stop in Virginia along the way. Holladay grew to love the area, especially the horse farms. When she relocated to Virginia and opened her shop, she made sure that it retained “the spirit and core values my dad’s business had.”

Since 1994, Holladay’s shop has offered classic furniture, original art works, prints, antiques, gifts and other accessories. About a quarter of her business is dedicated to lamp repair and creation. In fact, they can custom build a lamp from just about any item: riding hats, antique seltzer bottles, musical instruments, duck decoys, trophies, bronzed baby shoes or cookie jars. Much of the work is done by Laurie’s husband, Jim. He started working on lamps and shades on the side. Now he and Laurie work at the shop together. “We do what nobody else does,” Holladay points out, “Lamp repair, custom work, rewiring…to any fixture and all on the premises.”

While Gordonsville is small, it is well situated near many destinations such as Richmond, Charlottesville and Washington, DC. In addition to horse farms, the area is also well known for its vineyards. Holladay says that while her shop is always busy, she definitely gets a bump in business from the tourist traffic during the summer and autumn; customers come in from all over.

This popularity has lead to resurgence in the area. Over the last 15 years, Holladay says there has been more of a focus on preservation and restoration. New business owners have come in and cleaned up historic buildings. The town is also working on major improvements with the Main Street Streetscape Project.  In March 2015, they began replacing deteriorating sidewalks, making crosswalks safer and installing new lighting and trees. Holladay says Main Street has always been walkable, with an artisan jeweler, clock repair, pastry shop, deli and French restaurant all nearby. Now, improvements include wider brick sidewalks, helping with pedestrian traffic.

Holladay says that there aren’t many shops like hers that offer the customization and care -- modeled on standards of the shop her parents had – around any more.  That’s one of the reasons The Laurie Holladay Shop is open seven days a week. Except for major holidays, “We try never to be closed,” she says, “even in the winter, and we’ve had some hard winters, I feel compelled to be open even if we’re the only place that’s open.”

JB Knacker - Gilbert, IA

123 Main Street, Gilbert, IA 50105

http://www.jbknacker.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JBKnacker

After eight years as a pediatric nurse, Brenda Schwager and her friend Julie Adams were looking to start their own business. As Schwager describes, they wanted, “something that two moms could do.” They took a trip north to Buffalo, Minnesota, and saw a store with vintage items that were painted and brought back to life. That trip inspired them.

In 2001, the weekend before 9/11, the two women opened their shop in a barn just south of Gilbert, Iowa. It was filled with old things they’d found and fixed up. “These were not grand things,” Schwager says, “they were nice vintage pieces.”  To name the business, they took their first initials and put it before the word “knacker,” which means a person who buys and dismembers old houses and salvages the usable parts.

When they had to move from the barn, they looked around and found 123 Main Street. It was occupied by a family who ran their plumbing business from the front of the building while living in the back. Their family was outgrowing the space and happy to sell.

Schwager and Adams took two weeks to rehab the interior themselves before moving in November 2015. “Julie would say, ‘no, that’s not a load-bearing wall’ and we’d knock it down to open up the space,” says Schwager.

Schwager calls Gilbert “small town Iowa.” Located exactly in the middle of the state and with a population of 1,069, JB Knacker is just feet from the post office and across the street from large grain silos and a co-op.  123 Main Street has seen many businesses since the building was erected in the 1870s.  Somewhere in the 1910s, it was a music store that sold pianos. By the 1930s, a physician was in the space. “I’ve been told that Doc Rose built the sun porch because his wife suffered from TB and that’s the way you treated TB back then,” Schwager said. Many of the older men in town also tell her they remember the building as Doc Dickerson’s Barber Shop. They got their haircuts there from 1940 through 1969. His wife, Helen, ran the post office.

While Adams moved on to new adventures in 2008 and later relocated to Colorado, Schwager has continued with the business. “I sell a lot of functional things,” she says, “I call it a vintage home store with furniture, linens and dishes.”

She sometimes hits the auctions to find pieces, but says, “I like to be the lowest price around and auction items go for more than I would sell them.” Instead, she spends many of her weekdays at estate sales, church sales or school closings. It’s there she often gets items like globes, maps, shelving and letter boxes. She picks up items wherever she sees them; it’s a practice she’s done for years. “I have six kids and we used to travel around to various sporting events. They all knew we’d end up somewhere in another town and someone would have to hold [one of her vintage finds] on their lap on the way home.”

In addition to being open every Friday and Saturday, Schwager has teamed up with other vintage vendors in nearby communities. She started the Central Iowa Junk Jaunt in 2009. It’s an event that happens a few times a year where multiple shops showcase their best stuff and offer sale items.

When Schwager and Adams began, they were told to incorporate their type of business in the name, something along the lines of “antique” or “vintage.” They instead came up with something more catchy. And when they looked at 123 Main Street, Schwager said she thought, “We may not have the best business name, but we’ve got a great address.” She further adds that even though it’s not a big structure or very grand in any sense, “this house has been good to me.”

123 Insurance Inc., DBA: Pam Parah-Tobin Agency - St. Albans, VT

123 S. Main Street, St. Albans, VT 05478

http://123insurancevt.com/default.asp

Pamela Parah-Tobin had been in the insurance business for 26 years, working for another insurance company, when the opportunity presented itself for her to start her own business in 2012, “it was just the right time and place,” she said.

In fact, many pieces started to fall into place when she purchased her clients from her previous employer, began her own agency and found a building for her business. “I have a good friend who owned this building. He asked me to move my office in and purchase the location, so I relocated and did just that,” she explained. Naming the company 123 Insurance Inc. came soon after landing at 123 S. Main Street. “It was a perfect situation and made the agency name easy,” she said.

As a single mother for 15 years, Parah-Tobin struggled, doing her best to balance home life and working all the time. She admits to missing a lot as her three boys grew up. Starting her own agency allowed her to “give what I didn’t have: the ability to give flexibility.”

“When I created my agency, my business plan was to help mothers be home with their children more and still have a career in the insurance industry.  So I allow the children to come to work with them as newborns, then give them flexibility to work from home as well as from the office. I stress that raising your children comes first,” she says. Currently, 123 Insurance Inc. is staffed completely by women. “I have four ladies in my office that all have different schedules…I feel this is most important and it can work if the employer is willing to be flexible and the whole team works together to make sure it works.  Communication is the key.  It has [worked well] for almost four years now and I’m sure it will continue,” she adds.

As a broker agency, 123 Insurance Inc. represents 22 different companies and is able to “shop” each customer renewal to make sure their coverage is not only up to date, but that they get the best rate possible. The agency provides property and casualty coverage as well as life insurance and other coverage. While Parah-Tobin says she focuses on coverage and not claims, in one of the biggest agricultural counties in the state, where turkey, deer, raccoons and moose roam freely, things can be a little interesting. “A few people have [had accidents] with bears,” Parah-Tobin admits. Just like deer, black bears sometimes come in contact with cars on local roadways.

Serving customers for 26 years, the agency has a lot of retention due to providing great customer service. “I love what I do. I think people recognize that,” she says. 123 Insurance Inc. almost never advertises due to great “word of mouth” from customers. In a town of a little more than 6800 residents, Parah-Tobin has seen her business grow to nearly 2000 customers, almost doubling since she began four years ago.

Having a passion for what she does makes the work easy for Parah-Tobin and, pulling together her address and her agency name, she conveys in her tag line: “We work hard for you to save you money and give you better coverage...it’s as easy as 123!”

Curious Wren - Henderson, TX

123 S. Main Street, Henderson, TX 75654

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Curious-Wren-110264649035628/timeline/

Henderson, Texas has four Main Streets: North, South, East and West.  At 123 E. Main Street, you can find Rayford Florist and Gifts. Owner James Nicholson says that sometimes his mail ends up at The Curious Wren, a gift shop at 123 S. Main Street.

Owners Bill and Billie Brookshire opened their business in 2010. The store name came about because, Billie says, “We have a number of bird feeders and enjoy watching the birds. We like the wren because it’s always looking for something, always exploring.”

Exploring is what customers can do in their gift shop to find a variety of items. While the store specializes in baby gifts and bath and body items such as Jack Black and Michael Design Works, one can also find jewelry, WoodWick Candles, Baggallini bags, J.R. Watkins spices, Gerry Ballantyne bells and numerous other collectibles.

In fact, it’s exploring that got the couple into this business. For more than 30 years, Bill has worked as a landman. Billie joined in about 25 years ago. The couple traveled through East and South Texas as well as Arkansas as independent contractors working for brokers. They do research, find out about minerals and interact with landowners to acquire oil drilling leases on the behalf of oil companies. From time to time during their travels, Billie would find antiques. It was a hobby she and her siblings picked up from her mother, “all of us, we love to hunt,” she says.

Fifteen years ago, she opened an antique shop across town in Henderson. When the building sold, she looked to do something different. However, she still has many antique dolls, glassware and dishes in The Curious Wren. Billie says the antique trays are a much-requested item that she searches for at other locations in order to provide for her customers.

While she ran the antique business on her own, she says it’s nice to work with her husband in this shop because they do well as a team. From time to time, they still go out in the field on landman work together, so they have one full-time employee who helps out with the gift shop. The couple balance each other out. Billie finds merchandise and Bill takes a lot of photos and markets the business, often populating the store’s Facebook page with new finds.

When the couple was searching for a store location, the former Singer Sewing Machine shop was available at 123 S. Main Street. It was Bill who then called the phone company to request a special telephone number for the business. It ends in “1234,” making it easier to remember.

Rayford Florist and Gifts - Henderson, TX

123 E. Main Street, Henderson, TX 75652

http://www.rayfordflorist.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rayfordflorist

In 1843, two years before Texas was admitted to the Union on December 29, 1845, Henderson, Texas – named for James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor – was designated as the county seat of Rusk County, making it one of the oldest towns in the state.

At 123 E. Main Street, a jewelry store was opened in the mid-1800s. In 1878, a fire destroyed most of downtown, including the courthouse. In 1905, a fire hit the block with the jewelry store. When it burned, the safe crashed through the weakened floor. “That safe is still down there,” says James Nicholson, current owner of Rayford Florist and Gifts, now located at 123 E. Main Street. “It was too heavy to move and they couldn’t get it opened, so they left it and built over it.”

The rich history of the building as well as the picturesque small town lured James and his partner, Jon, to move from Louisiana back to James’ native East Texas. For 10 years, the couple ran a busy floral shop near New Orleans. In 2014, they wanted to slow down their life’s pace and started looking to open a shop in Texas. After researching areas around Houston, Austin and Dallas, they found a posting on Craigslist for the shop in Henderson. They fell in love with the tall ceilings and squeaky floors of the only art deco building in town. “There’s just a feeling that an old building has,” James said. They opened their doors in June 2014. Three months later, they were voted “Best Florist in Henderson” by the Henderson Daily News. (There are three other florists in town.)

In 1987, Henderson was accepted by the Texas Historic Commissions as an official project for the Texas Main Street Project City, a reinvestment into the state’s historic downtowns. In fact, the entire downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the buildings have both a National Register Marker and Texas Historical Marker. In Henderson, there are four “Main Streets”: North, South, East and West. “The north and south were once named Broadway a long time ago, but they renamed it,” said James.

Rayford Floral was originally founded in 1921 by the Rayford family. James and Jon are the fourth owners of the business. Originally located in a building across town, the floral shop moved into the East Main Street location once occupied by Reed’s Jewelry.

Although it is the smallest place the Nicholsons have ever lived, James says, “It’s a wonderful environment…when you walk around downtown, you feel the pride people have in their small businesses. If you’re outside [your shop], people honk their horns and wave at you.”

While a good deal of their business is from the town’s residents, James says they get a number of tourists who like the “cute downtown look” of the historic town and come to shop. He points out that the “enormous” annual Heritage Syrup Festival held every November typically increases the population from 14,000 to 30,000 during that one weekend.

His returning locals like to tell stories about when the business was owned by a jeweler. “I’ve had people tell me they bought their wedding ring in the store. They also ask whether we’ve ever found any gems. They say that Reed’s used to make custom jewelry and if a gem fell on the floor, sometimes they’d [purposely] drop another one to see if it would roll near the first so they could find it,” says James. He adds, “I’ve been down on my hands and knees looking, but haven’t found anything yet.”

Livingston Photography and Print Shop - Nephi, UT

123 S. Main Street, Nephi, UT 84648

http://kimoskamera.com

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

Owner Amanda Livingston didn’t start out as a photographer. “I went to school and got my bachelor’s degree in social work,” she says. When her husband’s job relocated the Ephraim, Utah native to Nephi, Utah in 2005, Livingston decided to pursue her beloved hobby. She’d always enjoyed taking photos and enrolled in classes to learn the art of studio lighting. By 2008, she was earning a living as a photographer.

Then, in 2014, a local businessman named Kimo decided to sell off his 30-year-old photography studio and printing shop. Livingston had a “three-week crash course” learning about the business and then took over in January 2015.

On the printing side, the business does everything from graduation announcements to wedding invitations and brochures to posters. “If you need it, we print it,” she says. She uses an off-set printer and water-soluble inks to crank out orders. “I had one staffer that carried over [from Kimo’s] business…but he left to pursue his own career,” Livingston said. So she did some hiring and now has one full-time staffer and three part-timers on board to help when business gets booming. March, April and May are heavy months for printing; graduation and wedding season means printing many personalized mailings.

The photography business keeps her equally busy, especially in the autumn when families come in to get Christmas photos shot. In early October, Livingston noted, “I am booked solid from now until the end of November.”

In this small town of approximately 5,000 residents where, Livingston says, “everyone still knows everyone,” her shop is the place to get printing or photos done. The closest city to offer anything like her service would be Provo, Utah, a 30-minute drive away.

Because Livingston purchased a previously established business, she says she sees a third generation of customers. “Older people come in here and say, ‘I remember when Kimo started,” she says.

Livingston shoots a few wedding every year, but children, families and newborns are her specialty. She also shoots high school senior photos as well. Because the area is a farming town, some of those pictures also include prized steers, horses or family pets with the graduating student.

Working 60 hours a week is tough, but as she notes on her website, “I am a photographer because I love taking pictures and preserving memories. In fact, I get just as excited about your pictures turning out great as you do. My philosophy as a photographer is very simple. I believe that it is your moment, your event, your memory, and it should be captured the way you want it to be. I am the mother of four wonderful and very energetic children. I know how crazy life can get, and I also know that the special moments come and go so fast. I want to be there to help you remember those moments all along the way.”

Here's Looking at You - Chambersburg, PA

123 S. Main Street, Chambersburg, PA 17201

https://chambersburgboutique.com/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hlay123

Penny Shaul outside her store’s entrance
in September 2014.

Penny Shaul started working in retail when she was 18-years-old. Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, she worked at local chain stores and then in a small boutique. She says she learned a lot from that owner, especially as business grew and a second shop was opened.

Shaul was also a league volleyball player in Omaha when another player told her about job opportunities in Johnston Atoll, an unincorporated territory of the United States near Hawaii. It was winter in Nebraska and the offer to work in the tropics tempted her away. She spent 10 years working as a certified volleyball official on the remote island, but had the intention to save money, return to Nebraska and buy one of the boutiques from the owner she had worked for. Life took a turn in Johnston Atoll when she met the man who would become her husband. He was from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and it was there that the couple moved when they returned stateside.

Shaul still had her heart in the boutique business and, after doing some research, “took the plunge” in August 2004 and opened Here’s Looking at You.  Reflecting back 11 years, Shaul isn’t sure how she came upon that name; she wasn’t a Humphrey Bogart fan. However, she knew she couldn’t use “Penny’s” without a lawsuit due to the famous J.C. Penney’s.

Settling on Main Street between two jewelry stores and, now, with a bridal shop across the street and a cosmetics store nearby, her clothing boutique specializes in styles for women who are 30 and over. Here’s Looking at You continuously updates inventory and features Tribal, Nomadic Traders, Nic & Zoe, FDJ French Dressing, Renuar, Iguana, Tianello, Nally & Millie, Christine Alexander and Neon Buddha in petite and women’s sizes. The shop also carries Thymes Lotions, Patience Brewster ornaments, greeting cards and a wide selection of accessories.

Shaul says there is some competition in the area. “There was another boutique in town when I started,” Shaul notes, “but for more mature fashions.”  There’s also a shopping center with chain stores like Kohl’s about two miles away. “It’s like the usual strip malls plunked down everywhere in America,” she says. However, Shaul's business continues to do well by making her customers a priority. She’s happy to make special orders and, as the only full-time employee, she says she knows her inventory backwards and forwards. The personalized service helps keep her true to the vision she had when she began: “to provide a fun place to shop where women want to bring their family and friends when they are in town.”

Odessa Feed and Pet Store - Odessa, MO

123 W. Main Street, Odessa, MO 64076

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/odessafeedandpet/

Ask store owner Ray McCollum how long he’s been in business and he’ll tell you, “a whole lotta years.” For as long as he can remember, he’s been around horses. He used to travel all over Arizona and Texas going from rodeo to rodeo and selling tack out of a trailer. He finally settled down in Odessa, Missouri, a small town located approximately 45 minutes east of Kansas City.

Odessa once had a little feed store that, as McCollum explains, converted into a hardware store and then, unfortunately, went out of business. Seeing the need for local residents, McCollum and his girlfriend opened their own feed store in January 2014.

This metal structure with cement floors may not be a lot to look at, but inside a customer can get lost in all their offerings: feed, pet supplies, tack and custom metal work. Whether you’ve got a large animal like a horse or mule or something small like dogs and chickens, McCollum has food in stock. Of course, in keeping with his past business, there is also enough tack (bridles, halters, pads, bits and breastplates) for a herd of horses. An array of beautiful, custom-made saddles are also available.

In many ways, his place comes full circle because not only does he have chicken coop supplies and feed, when the hens lay eggs, owners bring them in to sell at the store. As of October 1, McCollum had 19 dozen fresh farm eggs available.

With a population of approximately 5,300, McCollum says he knows, “about 90 percent of my customers. And, if I don’t know ‘em, I get to know ‘em.” Business is good. Locals come here instead of driving the 30 minutes or more into Kansas City. “We have a lot of dog food,” McCollum adds, “we have it here because there are a lot of pets [in Odessa] and people would [otherwise] have to drive to the city.”

McCollum didn’t think much about the novel numbers on his business when opening except to acknowledge, “it’s an easy address.” McCollum’s focus seems to be on his clientele. “We have hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.. But I’m here at 7:30 a.m. I tell people, if I’m here, I’m open. Sometimes they’ll call and say they can’t make it until after 6 p.m., so I stay.”

Main Street Grille Restaurant - North Canton, OH

123 S. Main Street, North Canton, OH 44720

http://msgrille.com

From 1908 to 2013, North Canton, Ohio was synonymous with the Hoover Company, the world’s largest manufacturer of vacuum cleaners. Just steps away from that former factory is Main Street Grille Restaurant, one of the only casual upscale restaurants in town.

Owner Larry Owens started his career in computers. He worked for Goodyear before becoming an instructor at Stark State College and running his own software business. His office was located upstairs at 123 S. Main Street. He eventually bought the building and became landlord to the restaurants below him. From 1947 to 1987, Granny’s Restaurant served basic home cooking. Smokin’ Joe’s was a rib joint that moved in afterwards. They were once winners of the annual Ribs Burnoff, a competition that brought in restaurants from across the country to participate in part with the National Football Hall of Fame festival.

When Smokin’ Joe’s owners had trouble meeting their rent, Owens tried to lease the restaurant space to others. “I just didn’t feel comfortable with anyone I met. So I thought, ‘Let’s see what I can do with it,’” he says.

Owens, with the help of his sons and a few friends, took on a five-month task of renovating the space. He wanted to sell liquor at the restaurant, but North Canton is a dry town and it required a license and approval by residents. Owens spent a year going door to door telling residents about his plans and gaining approval from individuals as well as many churches in town.

Getting into the restaurant business wasn’t anything Owens knew about, so he picked a relatively generic name and originally made his menu large. “At first, I did everything for everybody. I didn’t know what would stick.” Gone are the pub food items he first featured. Today, the restaurant is known for steaks, seafood and pastas. Two items on the menu showcase the history of the address. “We have baby back ribs,” Owens was quick to point out. One of the cooks from Smokin’ Joe’s shared the recipe. The apple dumpling that Granny’s Restaurant once served is here as well.

Owens says he had the owner from Granny’s in his restaurant a number of years ago. She was treated to the apple dumpling and, sensing that the Main Street Grille Restaurant cooks had improved upon it from the simple recipe she used, commented that she “loved it, but wouldn’t through all that trouble [to make it that way].”

Main Street Grille Restaurant has grown in popularity and Owens has made renovations and improvements little by little during the 10 years it’s been open. He's added a wine cellar, party room, patios, wine shop and an area known as the New Berlin Room. “North Canton was originally known as New Berlin,” Owens reminds. New Berlin was the first village to be plotted when Stark County was organized in the mid-1800s. By the mid-1900s, even though most of the residents were of German descent, Germany was an enemy in World War I.

An article in the Canton Repository quoted Christopher Post, assistant professor of geography at Kent State University Stark Campus, regarding the reason for the change, “All over America, things bearing Germanic names were changed — hospitals, schools, towns, streets, even family names…after a petition drive, New Berlin, population 926, changed its name to North Canton on Jan. 30, 1918.”

Owens makes a point of incorporating the village history in his place. He tips his hat to the vacuum giant with a “Boss” Hoover “Succit Up” martini. Lining the walls of restaurant are black and white photos from the historical society. Customers can view images that show Main Street when it was nothing more than a dirt road.

Lisa's Dance Elite - Wintersville, OH

123 Main Street, Wintersville, OH 43953

http://lisasdanceelite.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LisasDanceElite

Photo by Lisa Poole.

The Ohio Valley and nearby Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area have a saturation of dance studios. Lisa Poole, owner of Lisa’s Dance Elite, says that in a 20-mile radius of her location, there are 17 studios. “There’s not much for kids to do in the area beyond school sports,” she notes.

Poole started dancing at the age of three. After attending Kent State University, she opened her own studio, Lisa’s School of Dance, in 1987 and had a class of 30 students. Within a five-year span, enrollment grew tremendously, forcing her to frequently change locations to meet demand. “We probably went through five studios in five years,” she says. By the mid-1990s, her studio was the biggest in the region and she had more than 300 students enrolled.

The success of the dance studios always seemed to be based on the success of the local steel mills. When they were doing well and parents had money, kids were in classes. By early 2000s, the nearby steel mills were closing up. Gone was the money. Gone was the ability for parents to pay for classes.

In 2003, Poole closed her dance studio and took a job as Marketing Director at Fort Steuben Mall.  She continued teaching on a part-time basis at another local studio and people kept requesting her to again open her own place. In 2009, when the local economy was better, she moved into 123 Main Street as Lisa’s Dance Elite.

Her studio offers a wide variety of classes, including ballet, lyrical/contemporary, tap, jazz and hip-hop. She welcomes all ability levels and takes students as young as 18 months old. She also partners with a special needs school, “No one else was open to them…now they have a sponsor and we have class once a week,” Poole says.

Fans of the Lifetime Television show “Dance Moms” know that the Abby Lee Dance Company is located in Pittsburgh. While it is only 30 miles away, Poole says the dance mentality is a world away. “Pittsburgh is high end. It’s about competitions and just dancing. We’re different from them. Here, kids have a life. If they miss [dance class] for school or softball or whatever, they have a life.”

Poole stresses her family-oriented, no-pressure attitude, “Here, you can do what you want. You don’t want to compete? Fine, take [a class] recreationally.” She says her studio isn’t about creating famous dancers, but giving kids opportunities to do what they like to do. One such opportunity is an annual trip to Florida; she takes a group of students to Disneyland. There, they get special training from Disney choreographers and her dancers get to perform for 30 minutes before an audience in Orlando.

Lisa believes that dance helps all ages grow physically, emotionally and socially. She gets feedback from local coaches who notice personality changes in their athletes. In addition to helping build self-esteem and confidence, coaches also say the dance helps their football players and wrestlers with agility.

Former students have gone on to open their own studios in Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. While Poole recognizes their success, she says that her students also, “may never dance after they leave here. But,” she adds, “they will remember all the fun they had when they were here.”

M.B. Kilmer Funeral Home - Argyle, NY

123 Main Street, Argyle, NY 12809

www.kilmerfuneralhome.com

Photo provided by Todd Kilmer.

M.B. Kilmer Funeral Home states on their website, “Our mission is to help a family honor their loved one, ease the burden of the loss and celebrate a life well-lived by sharing the memorable moments, experiences and relationships that defined that life with those who were part of it.”

One way they ease the burden for those in the community is to be a consistent place of comfort for nearly 90 years. Argyle, New York is a small rural village at the base of the Adirondacks. Most of the 3600 residents are farmers. Funeral home director Todd Kilmer knows many of them by name. His family has been of service to three generations.

Todd’s grandfather Maurice “Mo” Bristol Kilmer founded the funeral home in Argyle in 1927. In the 1920s, wakes and funerals were still being held in residents' private homes. Kilmer was a funeral director and also a storeowner.  He had a shop where he sold furniture and coffins (because many furniture stores of the time sold coffins). He turned the storefront into a gathering place for viewing the deceased in preparation for funerals.

Tragedy struck just three years later when, in 1930, that location burned to the ground, rendering the business a total loss.  Arson was suspected, but “Mo” was undaunted and moved the business into a building that was then addressed as 6401 Main Street. In 2005, when Argyle renumbered buildings for the village’s 911 system, the funeral home got the new address of 123 Main Street.

“Mo” handed down the business to his son, George. Todd, one of George’s six children, now oversees operations at the funeral home in Argyle as well as two other locations in the area: Fort Edward and South Glen Falls. Since the funeral business operates 24/7, the family tends to live close by. Until recently, Todd’s grandmother lived above the funeral home in Argyle. Todd resided above the Fort Edward location until they found they needed more office space. Todd’s nephew Kyle recently finished school and has taken the national boards to become a funeral director. He lives next door to the Fort Edward funeral home. Kyle will be the fourth generation to run the business.

“People appreciate what we do,” says Todd Kilmer. Many residents come in to do pre-planning of their funerals. “We see all the family dynamics…Death brings out the good and bad.” He says that families feel comfortable with them and know they can rely on them for anything they need during a difficult time.

Sometimes the need can be unique. “I have one woman who has pre-planned and she’s already told me she wants a laughing box on the kneeler; anyone that comes up to kneel sets off the laugh box.” Additionally, he has had requests from people who want to be involved, even if they cannot attend the funeral. “We just video taped a funeral the other day,” Todd remarked. And, in the age of the Internet, he is also looking into providing what some families have asked for: live streaming.