What once was a longtime funeral home is on the way to becoming the home of burgeoning small businesses in Downtown Jacksonville.
Colleen Flinn, owner of Nothing Fancy Supply in Jacksonville is acquiring the former Gilliam Buchanan Funeral Home Building located at 326 West State Street next to the Morgan County Courthouse.
She says what will now be known as Gillham House, will be a home to more than just her young but fast-growing business. “Nothing Fancy Supply is moving its production upstairs to the second story, and then downstairs we are opening up our flagship store which is going to be The General Store by Nothing Fancy. We have some other retailers that are moving their spaces in as well.
It’s just kind of a place where several small businesses can work together to have a storefront without all of the upfront costs that you incur when you have your own storefront.”
With the help of Market House Antiques owner Nick Little, Flinn has been working to give the interior of the building a facelift over the last few weeks. Flinn says while the classic interior trims will remain, the space will have a lighter feel for new businesses and customers alike.
I kept telling Nick we are de-funeral-home-izing the funeral home. It was a funeral home from 1898 to 2009. I know the prior owners worked to get it out before we were in here but there were still some remnants of the funeral home. The darkness, the covered windows and drapes, the carpets, and so we’ve been working hard getting all of that out and just lightening it up and making it a more welcoming space.”
Flinn says Gillham House will soon be ready for new customers as work slowly winds down and new tenets are already beginning to set up shop. She says the Gillham House grand opening will be happening later this month.
“Our opening day is going to be September 24th, and we will be open 10 to 4. The stores that are coming in are the Peachy Nest by Jessica Lynn, and Rad + Thrift by Erin Miller. Gillham House is kind of its own entity where we do have required hours for all of the retailers that are going to be here.
Those hours are on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 to 4. And if the retailers who are in here want to be open longer they are welcome to. We just wanted some continuity so that people can know what to expect when they come and have the full experience.”
Flinn says a fourth business is potentially moving into Gilliam House, but nothing is final on that one just yet. She says the businesses are all different but mesh really well together and are all women-owned. She says that’s something that was never a requirement but she thinks it’s pretty cool that it ended up that way.
Flinn says she’s very excited to open the flagship Nothing Fancy’s The General Store so she can reconnect with the roots of her business. “The General Store I am really excited about because I started my business doing markets. Local farmers markets, and then it kind of grew into regionally, and after we started doing the more national stores and shows, I kind of feel like I lost the connection with some of my local clientele.
So I’m really excited to kind of get back in the swing of knowing my customers again and we’re going to be offering not only our beeswax food wraps, but we have some other items that Nothing Fancy is coming out with along with local produce, locally grown beef, pork, chicken, and eggs along with gift items and everything that you would need for a kitchen and pantry.”
Gilliam House will officially open on Saturday, September 24th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. For updates, visit Gillham House on Facebook.