Driving through the countryside as the floodwaters in the midwest begin to recede you may find some unusual things in odd places…An old chair in the middle of a field, or a piano stool lying beside the road. That doesn’t even address the mountains of stuff bearing their watermarked scars waiting to be hauled off to the landfill.
Something else that has begun to reveal itself is a Rural Renaissance of sorts. My business partner, Joan Sorenson and I have both returned to our hometown of Jefferson, Iowa after several years in larger cities on the West Coast and in the Southwest. After years of traveling, commutes and strings of meetings, we both knew we wanted a change.
We were introduced several years ago by our moms, who were part of that wonderful generation who got together for morning coffee with their friends on a regular basis. People don’t seem to have time for many of those niceties anymore, but frankly, I think we should make the time. I know personally, I am much better after coffee, and even more so after an earnest discussion with a girlfriend or two. What Joan and I soon discovered was that we had a couple of common threads that would forever weave us together in that crazy quilt tapestry of life. (While scrubbing toilets is definitely something neither of us enjoy, that wasn’t the big life-altering thread. Although I think if the rest of my family had to scrub toilets a little more frequently it just might be life altering for my houseful of boys.) No, what Joan and I share is an eye for potential and a passion for our hometown.
My paternal grandmother, Lucy Wolfe, owned a ladies ready-to-wear shop on the west side of the Square in in our hometown in 1911, a time when not many women were business owners. If women in business today think they’ve got it rough, I’m sure Grandma Lucy could give them a new perspective on what tough is. Her shop, the Bon Ton, operated in that same building for 60 years, with my dad, Jerry, taking the helm in the 50’s.
Similarly, Joan’s grandfather, who she most affectionately calls Daddy Newt (Seela), owned the hardware store on the corner of same block for several decades. A unique twist to this part of the story, is that Joan’s dad, Bill Sorenson, began making trampolines in the basement of his father-in-law’s store. That entrepreneurial side venture eventually grew into American Athletic, now owned by Spalding, which provides athletic equipment to the NBA, the NFL and the Olympics. Talk about VISION!!!
Joan’s mom also had her own travel agency for 30 years, and my mom’s parents and grandparents both had shops in Lake City. So as you can clearly see, Joan and I couldn’t help but wind up with a shop of our own. We put our entrepreneurial genes to work last year and have been creating unique repurposed items from cast off materials. With offers from shops in other cities to sell their merchandise, we knew we were on to something. So we took that proverbial leap of faith and opened our shop, JUNCK, on the square in Jefferson in mid June, in what appropriately enough used to be the Gambles store. While our small rural town may not have as much foot traffic and hype as some of the places we had offers from, we know we are in the right place. Joan often refers to our unique mix of vintage and repurposed furniture and art, as “doing our part to keep Greene County green.”
One of the best surprises has been the wealth of artisans we have discovered. From day one we have had people stop in who reveal a creative side you would never expect. We have discovered a plumber who blows glass, a nursing assistant who hand carves wood, a high school student who welds, a grounds keeper whose passion is for blacksmithing with an 1803 forge (we have a couple of his pieces in the shop), and more. One of the things we’ve always wanted to do, was to help our community grow, and by supporting people that conventional economic development overlooks, we can help to establish a creative culture in a rural community like Jefferson, which only strengthens the overall economy.
We are also developing some unique items, like our line of JUNCKyard Dogs, made from recycled sweaters and other fabrics, whose proceeds will benefit PAWS the local animal shelter. Power Cords, and accessories and jewelry made from reclaimed bike parts and more. While we are also excited about recent talks with a firm in Minneapolis regarding the distribution of some of our items, the best part about our new venture is looking forward to going to work everyday. Starting a business is never easy, or a sure thing, but we are having the best time doing what we’re doing! With signs from Seela Hardware and vintage photos scattered throughout the place taken of Jefferson in its heyday, we are certainly enjoying the challenge.
