By Bob Copperstone
Since I was a kid playing on its rooftops 70-some years ago, Wahoo’s downtown skyline profile hasn’t changed all that much.
The buildings, with a few exceptions, remain standing stoutly in place much as I remember them. But there are lots of changes to the contents of the (mostly) brick structures.
The gradual transformation over fairly recent years may have escaped the notice of longtime residents, but their eclectic diversions have made Wahoo a more interesting place to visit, shop and live.
During the 1960s thru ‘80s, and before I moved back to Wahoo from California in 1990, I spent almost annual vacations here. And with each visit I noted increasing numbers of businesses empty out and post for-sale window signs
(I remember that, while many people at my work took vacations in exotic places, I would always fly to my home town. One time, a newly-hired reporter asked me where I was going this year. “I’m going back to Wahoo again,” I said. “Ah, yes, Oahu,” he said, “The Islands are beautiful this time of year.” I just agree, and moved on.)
The most numerous varieties of the latest local shops are the boutiques, with scatterings of crafts, antiques, clothing, beauty shops and the like. There’s even a shop that specializes in hand-made clothing for children.
These days we’re even a stop on an annual statewide boutique jaunt tour. That means it’s altogether possible that many out-of-towners spend more money, know more about us, and enjoy our downtown more than some of our actual residents.
One of my favorites is a real, live letterpress print shop, Persimmon Press, with an actual hand-feed printing press. I especially like that one because I was a journeyman printer/pressman in the 1960s.
What with all the redecorated specialty shops, I am amazed that the boutique bunch hasn’t snapped up the old “Clara’s Café.”
That tiny stucco, Alamo-looking, cabin-sized building squats between the Chinese restaurant and the tall wooden-front barber/beauty shop. It’s got all the bones to become what couldn’t possibly avoid being called “adorable,” or even “cute as a button.”
In recent decades it had seemed abandoned and filled with junk. It had once been a small “Wahoo Laundromat” (the sign is still displayed in the window) for a few years, before a large, new one was built several years ago a few doors west.
The stucco paint is scabby, the windows cracked and the whole building is decrepit. But in recent weeks the interior has been removed, possibly (I hope) signaling a sale or renovation.
There once had been rumors of a multi-story brick building going up on that lot, but so far nothing has come of that.
Meanwhile, Wahoo’s little shops continue to keep their posted hours. I’m sure the first-time merchants are not raking in the money, but that seems unimportant in the long run. The excitement and pride of keeping one’s own shop, and mixing with fellow entrepreneurs, make the work and worry worth it.
A steady flow of city-wide sidewalk sales and topical festivities during the kinder months keeps the camaraderie flowing and the mood light.
Last fall my sister Rochelle and other members of our family visited here from California, and I joined them as they darted from shop to shop, reminiscing about what businesses used to be in this building or that one, and marveling about the warm and friendly downtown atmosphere.
We topped off the tour with a church duck dinner in Prague that left us catching our breaths, taking in the small town magic.
Whatever the future holds for the enterprising shopkeepers, the New Downtown will continue to be very much better than the stagnant gloom of the earlier darkened windows of vacant business.
* * *
Here are 16 in a partial list of shops that have helped revitalize Downtown Wahoo’s once-stalled retail trade:
--Anthologie Soaps
--D’s Boutique
--Found & Flora
--Good Life Boutique
--Husband’s Approval
--JD Craft Shack
--Persimmon Press
--Redbone Ridge
--Rivalry Apparel
--Senior Center Thrift Store
--Sadie’s Treasure Chest
--Sassafras Galleria
--Scraps & Such Co.
--Simon Says Antiques
--Wahoo Mercantile (Antiques)
--Wahoo Senior Center Thrift Store
There are other one-of-a-kind shops not listed here. Take a tour around the new Downtown Wahoo and discover them for yourself.
If you haven’t visited for quite awhile, you many not recognize some of it.
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