- November 23, 2024
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‘I want to cry,’ a customer said.
Only one fireplace and a few accessories were scattered around the showroom at All Florida Fireplace Supplies, 352 S. Yonge St., on Feb. 28, its last day of business.
Owner Jim Dougherty,76, wearing suspenders and a Panama hat, leaned back in his swivel chair behind his desk in the near empty room.
“I enjoyed this business so much,” he said. “I enjoyed all the customers. People would come in with so many stories.”
For example, he said a person came in and told him how a raccoon climbed down the chimney and got into their house
“I’d help them with their problems,” he said. “I’ll miss the camaraderie with the people.”
Many customers will also miss the store, which was in the same location for 33 years.
“One lady came in and said, ‘Where’s the crying room? I want to cry,” Dougherty said with a smile.
Dougherty had a liquidation sale of his merchandise, including fireplaces, wood-burning stoves, glass doors, screens, gas logs and other accessories.
Back problems forced his retirement. He faces eight months of recovery after recent surgery.
“I can’t bend over,” he said.
Dougherty, who grew up in the Daytona Beach area, never set out to have a fireplace business. He worked for Bell South in sales and marketing for 14 years, but quit in 1981 after the company was broken up into separate entities by the federal government amid monopoly charges.
Dougherty kept being transferred around, so he decided to quit and start his own business.
He started to sell log homes in the area, which had wood-burning stoves. He also advertised the stoves for sale, and he started to get orders. People also asked for glass doors and other accessories.
His log home business wasn’t doing that well, so he decided to open a fireplace and accessory store.
“I filled a niche,” he said.
The business was very successful over the years, and he and his wife were able to travel to Europe, China and Africa, and he was also able to pay off the store and his home.
Warm weather affected the business and it would slow down in June, so he and his wife would take vacation. Later, with the growth of the area, he even had decent business in June.
But the bottom fell out in 2008 when the recession hit, he said, and he had to use savings to keep the business open. But things are turning around now, as he knew they would.
“I’m an old man,” he said. “I know these things are cyclical.”
He said he has sold the lot and building to the business next door, Pinnacle Pavers.
He’s said he’s not sure what he’ll do in retirement, because the store has always been his hobby.
“I want to thank all of my customers for their business, and I’m sorry I can’t keep it open,” he said.
