The Man Store:
Testosterone on the South Hill
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July 30, 2011 |
By Kathryn Star Heart
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Marty
Huddleston in The Man Store |
Open for business since May, The Man Store,
located at 6503 Harrison in the refurbished Ruby
Motel, has had a positive response from the men
(and women) of Bonners Ferry.
“We decided to open a consignment store for guys
because of the success of Sequels,” said store
manager Marty Huddleston, whose wife, Donna,
owns and manages Sequels. “All the guys who came
into Sequels with their wives kept asking for
guy stuff. We hadn’t even thought about it
before then but we probably had three to five
guys per day asking us where the guy stuff was.”
Upon entering The Man Store, customers are met
with an impressive inventory of items that
appeal to the more masculine side of Bonners
Ferry. Not only is there a large variety of
men’s casual and dress clothes, shoes, belts,
ties, hats, dress jackets and leather jackets,
but Marty has assembled sporting equipment,
camping and fishing gear, hand tools and power
tools, knives, swords, cap guns, bb guns, pellet
guns, telescopes and spy scopes as well. A
healthy supply of boots for guys, such as hiking
boots, work boots, cowboy boots and even the
humble muck boot can be found nicely organized
along the walls of The Man Store. For the
musically inclined, Marty also carries a variety
of musical instruments including guitars and
keyboards.
In addition to the “gently used” items, The Man
Store also carries many new items, such as
flannel shirts, rocks, gems, jeans and ball caps
galore.
“I’ll consign anything that anyone has that I
think I can make a buck on for both of us,”
Marty chuckled.
Marty stressed that The Man Store is not a pawn
shop. Whereas a pawn shop loans money on an item
for a specified period of time, he accepts items
from consignors that immediately go up for sale.
When the item sells, he writes a check to the
consignor for 40% of the purchase price of the
item. He feels that this is a great deal for
residents of Bonners Ferry who may need a little
extra cash from the items that they are not
using anymore as well as for the customers who
patronize The Man Store. He routinely sells
items for one-third to one-half the cost of what
the item would have sold for when new and has
quite a few smaller items that are just $1.
Longtime residents of Boundary County, Marty and
Donna have carved a distinctive niche for
themselves among the retail merchants of Bonners
Ferry. “We’ve been told that the thrift stores
are not necessarily geared toward guys,” Marty
commented. “We wanted a place in Bonners Ferry
where guys were catered to with their
interests.”
One very positive feature of The Man Store is
the accessibility of its hours. Open from 11 am
to 7 pm on Mondays and Thursdays, from 11 am to
6:30 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and
from 11 am to 5 pm on Saturdays, Marty and
Donna’s intent was to create a store that
customers could drop into on their way home from
work.
“Our main function is that we are geared toward
guys who work until 5 pm,” stressed Marty. “Both
Donna and I know how hard it is to have stores
close at 5 pm when people are just getting off
work. In fact, several guys have been in here to
buy a clean, steamed shirt for an event in
Bonners Ferry that evening because it’s easier
to get a shirt at The Man Store than it is to
drive home to Porthill or Eastport to change
clothes.”
In addition to the guy stuff that Marty carries,
The Man Store currently boasts an entire room
devoted to antiques and collectibles. In fact,
one of Marty’s goals for the future is to
include more antiques and memorabilia in his
inventory as time goes on. Some of the
memorabilia he currently has in stock are from
Harley-Davidson, classic rock and roll – such as
The Beatles and Pink Floyd – and Coca Cola. As
far as antiques, he has some furniture, tea cups
and saucers and knick knacks.
“Whether you are looking for a unique belt
buckle, race car memorabilia, antlers, swimming
trunks or even a turquoise Harley-Davidson
motorcycle, we probably have it,” concluded
Marty. “You never know what you are going to
find in here.”
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© 2011, Kathryn Star Heart |
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