Staff writer
Pop quiz. Where in Marion County can someone by a book, a record, baby clothes, and golf clubs all in one store?
The answer is Yesterday’s Treasures in Florence. The new business, open for the last month, is located east of 7th Street on Main Street. It is owned by Lonnie Augustine and operated by Sandy Harper.
Harper had previously gone into business with Iva Britton at This and That Shop which opened this past winter. Harper moved into the warehouse-like building at Yesterday’s Treasures because she agreed with Augustine on a style for the business.
“This isn’t like a fancy store,” Harper said. “This is like a big garage sale or flea market. This is more my kind of store.”
The front of the business has the appearance of a family bookstore — with a collection of paperbacks and vinyl records on either side of the small front room. The store then quickly widens into a sprawling concrete-floored back room area where new items — toys and some non-perishable grocery items are situated next to used appliances, clothes, and furniture.
Harper purchased the new items. The vast majority of items in the store were things Anderson and Harper have accumulated over the years, about a 60/40 split in favor of Augustine.
With the vast number of items, Harper still said she has a great deal of organization to accomplish in the back area, although it looks better than when she started.
“You couldn’t move back here,” she said.
She is also trying to get the business noticed. Augustine has yet to procure a sign to announce to passers by that Yesterday’s Treasures is indeed a store. She’s close to making something makeshift with house paint. Augustine has input with the business, open three days a week — Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays — but he works in Kansas City as a healthologist.
Harper also said she encourages shoppers to check out This and That and Zogies On Main, other new businesses in Florence. She said the businesses work well one another, with the shared goal of providing convenience for Florence residents.
Zogies
Scott Zogelman’s mother always said he was a shopper.
“If it exists, I’ll find it,” Zogelman said.
He has applied that attitude to his greenhouse storefront Zogies On Main in its first month in business. He is providing plants, seeds, and gardening items as he had planned but he has acquired some diversity.
One item that was unexpected was frozen ground beef. Zogelman sells ground beef meant for resale that he buys from Peabody Market. He has even agreed to thaw the meat for customers to pick up in the evening on their way home.
“That’s great until somebody forgets,” Zogelman said.
He is also providing cheap, small items in his shop. He marveled at watermelon knives with a red sheath, cut with holes to show black seeds imbedded on the blade. First, they are cute, he said. Second, maybe somebody does not have a knife long enough for watermelon.
Something a little bigger are fire pits. They are the same brand and model customers can find elsewhere, but cheaper because Zogelman found them online.
“If I can still make a profit but make it affordable for people; that’s my goal,” Zogelman said.
Zogelman has a modest goal for his store. He just wants to break even because he still has what he sells from his greenhouse.
“I’m not planning on living on the store,” he said.