“This is a massive chasm, massive,” says Downtown Home & Garden owner Kelly Vore. “It’s heavy, on every level.”
A decade after buying the iconic Ashley St. emporium from longtime proprietor Mark Hodesh, who retains its historic real estate, Vore announced that financial conditions will prompt its closure on Christmas Eve.
From a hefty picnic table in the barn built in 1908 as a livery stable for the business then known as Hertler Brothers, Vore reflects on the impending demise of a distinctive representation of the city’s eclectic originality and creative charm.
“People love the knowledge, they love the service, they love the help, they love the sincerity,” she says. Its farm store roots remain alongside myriad product line additions over the decades—plants and gardening essentials, patio furniture, outerwear, pet supplies, and housewares, particularly Polish pottery.
But, she says, “If Covid was an earthquake, then we still have aftershocks. Not to continue to beat that drum, but it is still a reality.”
The 2020 pandemic changed accustomed rhythms of consumer behavior and disrupted supply chains. One example she cites: anything less than a full semi trailer of home canning Ball jars became essentially unaffordable to stock. “It’s been very slippery and very elusive to try to get a feel,” she says.
A retail management veteran of sixteen years with REI, Vore began at DH&G in 2010 and financed its takeover in 2015 as Hodesh’s handpicked successor.
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In 2019, they inked another five-year lease for the same base rent plus expenses, adding a percentage of on-site sales. Vore then expanded into the neighboring storefront, which seemed like “just the easiest decision in the world.” But the pandemic soon struck, and while the annex gave the store more breathing room to safely stay open throughout, she acknowledges it as “a diversion of resources that maybe, in the end, we couldn’t afford.”
She also “despised” the conversion of S. Ashley to allow two-way traffic in 2021, which made it trickier for customers to pull into the parking lot, or into the barn to load bulkier items. Weekend street closures of Washington and Liberty may support evening hospitality businesses, she adds, but not her vehicle-oriented daytime operation.
As the lease came up for renewal last year, Hodesh was discouraged by the sales trends. Revenue in 2024 was up just seven percent from his last year there in 2014, Vore reports.
Though he applauds the popular dog snack station Vore installed outside, Hodesh had a general sense that “she wasn’t matching up culturally. Maybe that’s what I can say. And that was driving off long-term business.”
Fearing his property might get tied up if DH&G went bankrupt, he offered a one-year renewal with possible extensions. It raised the rent by 26 percent as of June. He says the overall package is still only half of the appraised market rate.
He figured Vore might try to negotiate better terms, but she didn’t feel her position was strong enough to do that. “I have all the respect in the world for Mark and everything he’s accomplished,” Vore says. “I feel sad about the breakdown in communication.”
So she cut staff, ended the annex lease a few months early, and reduced inventory. “It’s not like I just tossed in the towel,” she says. “Everything we could pare down has been pared down. We’ve made strides, so things are better than they were, but it’s not good enough.”
The store’s final months will see progressive price markdowns, beginning with 30 percent off summer goods. A strong finish will improve the chances that the business might reemerge elsewhere, though she’s not focused on that yet. “We will still have tulip bulbs and amaryllis bulbs and mums and pumpkins and Christmas trees and things like that,” she promises. “None of us are riding off into the sunset.”
Hodesh says he’s not selling the real estate, but he’s unsure what will happen next with the retail space; at eighty-one, he’s not up for running another business himself.
A quintessential townie, Hodesh bought Hertler Brothers from its founding family in 1975 with proceeds from selling the nearby Fleetwood Diner. Hodesh sold Hertler’s in 1981 but ousted what he felt was an underperforming successor in 1997 to revitalize it under its current name.
He says the best option would be if “someone with good energy and money walked in and ran that store again. I just don’t see it happening. I have ideas, but it takes people and money to make them happen.”
He muses about his “dream business”—a Munich-inspired beer and bratwurst gathering spot—or perhaps a Vermont-style country store, or an antique hardware outlet. Whatever it is, “it’s going to be a destination. It’s going to be fun,” he vows.
Even Vore concedes that “it could be fabulous. You never know. I would never rule the man out. But more importantly, I don’t rule myself out.”
Downtown Home & Garden, 210 S. Ashley. (734) 662–8122. Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. downtownhomeandgarden.com
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