Many businesses have called downtown building home

The building at 123 S. Interocean Ave. currently houses Holyoke Fitness Club, but numerous other businesses have operated out of the downtown location throughout Holyoke’s history.

On April 24, 1889, lot 12 of block 16, one of the building’s two lots, was sold by the Lincoln Land Company to J.C. Reiff for $520. According to the Phillips County history book “Those Were the Days,” Reiff established a hardware, furniture and undertaking business there.

The business was sold to George W. Schuler on July 10, 1902, and Schuler sold it to brothers O.J. and H.L. Colver on Nov. 28, 1908. They established Colver Brothers Hardware, Furniture and Undertaking.

According to records at the Phillips County assessor’s office, the Colver brothers purchased lot 13 for $500 in 1916 from C.E. Paul. Prior to that, the lot had been sold from the Lincoln Land Company to L.M. Gathe in 1909, then to Paul that same year.

The store stocked special items like Winchester-Remington firearms, Avery farm implements and DeLaval dairy equipment. “Those Were the Days” noted that craftsman and long-time employee Cecil Critchlow was responsible for the memorable window displays at the business.

All three aspects of the business continued at that location until 1936, when the undertaking portion was moved to 241 E. Furry St., which was by then O.J. Colver’s residence.

In 1947, H.L. sold his interest to O.J.’s son, Marvin. O.J. died in 1950, and Marvin and his mother, Margaret, continued to operate the business until she died.

Marvin became an insurance agent and closed the business in 1959, and Doyle and Dorothy Skinner operated Holyoke Furniture Company out of the location.

Dale Hofmeister purchased the building in 1971 to turn it into a grocery store. Hofmeister sold the building to Neal and Carol Holmes in 1982.

Forced-air heat and a walk-in cooler were added to the building in 1983, and they began remodeling projects at the Jack & Jill grocery store in 1984, including replacing the floor, lowering the ceiling, bringing the front of the store forward, and adding new windows and a brick front.

The store was damaged from a fire on April 7, 1987, that destroyed Knight and Son home decorating store located next door. Groceries had to be sold to a salvage company. A new fire wall was built along the north side of the building, as well as a new roof and ceiling.

Courthouse records show that Hofmeister purchased the building again in 1996, and in 1998, Rocky and Barb Bieber purchased the building from Hofmeister’s estate.

An article in the Enterprise from Nov. 30, 1995, announced that Rocky and Barb were soon going to open Holyoke Super at the location after Jack & Jill closed the week before.

Toby and Jackie Thompson had J’s Home Furnishings in the building beginning in October 2004, and in 2009, mother-daughter team Barb Kreider and Summer Maloney operated the secondhand consignment store Second Thoughts inside J’s Home Furnishings.

On May 12, 2011, the Enterprise reported that Randy and Jackie Hale were opening RJ’s Simple Spending, a discount/variety store, in the building. The article noted that the Hales wanted to provide people with further opportunities to shop locally, offering items like toys, food, kitchen supplies, crafts, cleaning products and more.

The April 23, 2015, edition of the Enterprise provided an update on the opening of Holyoke Fitness Club, which had just had a successful open house the prior Saturday.

About 45 members signed up that Saturday, and about 10 more signed up the following Monday for the successful business opening, where it continues to operate today out of the same location.