Hardware, soda fountain and farmer’s market: St. John pastors open downtown business

Not wanting to see an empty storefront in St. John, Denny Hinds – a pastor at Christian Life Assembly – decided to open a business there. He and his wife Penny Hinds purchased the former St. John Pharmacy building on Front Street after the pharmacy moved into a smaller space. This week, the couple, along with Ben and Nancy Compton, associate pastors at Christian Life Assembly, opened Heritage Hardware in St. John.

“The owner of the pharmacy was selling, and we said we'll do something with it,” said Hinds. “It just happened. Really quick.”

Hinds said Heritage Hardware will operate as a hardware rental store, with a few vintage touches.

“We're trying to keep it retro and looking back 50 years,” he said. “It's still coming together.”

Part of that vintage touch is a soda fountain left behind by the pharmacy. Hinds said the fountain will be operational at the store.

“We'll have a bunch of sodas and ice cream sodas,” he said.

In addition to the soda fountain, there will also be things such as toys and candies that will help to complete the throwback look.

In one corner of the store, Hinds said there will be board games for those interested.

“We'll have a chess board and checkers board for people who want to sit and relax and play games,” he said.

On the hardware side, Hinds said he had been interested in opening “a small town hardware store” for a while. He worked in hardware when he was younger, and he has worked to remodel houses for 30 years. He wants to be able to provide similar tools for his customers.

In addition to the tools and the soda and ice cream, Hinds said there are plans to bring more to the community. They also want to be able to sponsor a weekly farmer's market.

“We're planning on doing a farmer's market on our property here starting the second week of June,” he said. “We're looking for vendors. We're seeing how many we can get.”

The first farmer's market is set for June 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vendor space will be $5 per week, and the market will continue every Saturday throughout the summer.

Another thing they are trying to do is start a kite club.

“We want to get families doing stuff together,” said Hinds. “We want to start a kite club. Our goal is to get 100 kites over St. John. We're just wanting to have fun.”

In addition, they would like to highlight local builders.

“For example, we have a 10-year-old boy who does an awesome job building and making fishing lures,” said Hinds. “We want to highlight people who build things.”

Heritage Hardware opened this week, and it will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours on Saturday will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the store will be closed on Sundays.

If interested in vendor space for the farmer's market, call the store at 509-648-4300