They had been living in Little Rock, Ark., and were thinking of parlaying Tom’s prior experience as a manager with national book and record retailers into setting up their own business, possibly in Tulsa, Okla. The site now is a parking lot for a Culver’s restaurant. Kaleidoscope originally opened as a record shop in this old house just east of South Fremont Avenue on the south side of East Sunshine Street in 1972 and remained there until the early 2000s. The Piersons were 20-somethings, newly wed and new to Springfield at the time - 1972 - and almost on a whim, they’d rented an old converted house on the south side of Sunshine Street one door east of Fremont Avenue. So we stepped out of the line and went home to rethink it - and somehow we came up with Kaleidoscope.” “We realized there already was a Rock Shop in Springfield. “But we were standing in line at Empire Bank to set up a business account when we noticed someone two people ahead of us wearing a shirt with that name on it,” Tom recalls of spotting John Gott. When Tom and his wife Pam originally envisioned setting up a small independent store to sell rock ‘n’ roll recordings and stereo hi-fi gear, they planned to call it The Rock Shop. Kaleidoscope’s brightly lit storefront and distinctive sign make the shop stand out in its East Sunshine Street location. And there is some unexpected inventory kept out of sight in a back room, given away for free to those in need - more about that later. The look of the store, and the merchandise and services offered therein, have evolved dramatically over the past 50 years. “And that’s certainly been the case with our business.” “What you see in a kaleidoscope is constantly changing,” he notes, referring to the colorful optical toy. Monday through Saturday.Tom Pierson says he honestly doesn’t know where the name for his eccentric store - Kaleidoscope - came from, but it’s proved to be appropriate for a half-century. Co-owners Rob and Saori Carlson have one part-time employee. The indoor billboards hang in the restrooms of area nightclubs, bars and restaurants, including Intensity, Trolley's, Rasta, Summers at the River and Bumstead's. The company sells advertising space displayed in public restrooms in 18-by-24 inch frames, each with eight ad spaces. The Meadows, who don't have any employees, designed the interior of the reception and banquet hall to resemble a southern mansion with columns, chandeliers, a grand staircase and balconies.|ret||ret||tab|Ĭaptive Markets Indoor opened Aug. Owners Ruth and Gene Meadows also own the 2,400-square-foot Stonegate Chapel next door, purchased in October from Naomi Webb for an undisclosed price. The 6,700-square-foot building seats 200 and has a service kitchen. Hwy 176, Walnut Shade, 10 miles north of Branson. Meadows of Eden Reception and Banquet Hall opened Sept. The shop offers contemporary gifts and dcor, health and beauty products, gift baskets and pet jewelry. Raynor said that Trenique has one full-time and two part-time employees. Owners Melissa Raynor and Joe Sunseri, who also co-own Valentine's, signed a three-year lease for an undisclosed amount for the 1,800-square-foot storefront. Trenique Accessories for Life opened Nov. Kaleidoscope employs 15 and its hours of operation are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. The center's tenants are American Bodyworks Tattoo Studio and ABC Spirits one storefront is available. Pellham-Phillips Architects & Engineers was the architect and MoDoCo was the general contractor. The Piersons purchased the strip center that the store moved into for $350,000 and spent more than $250,000 on renovations. Tom Pierson, who owns the store with his wife, Pam, at left, said that the move increased their store from 1,250 square feet to more than 3,000 square feet. Sunshine St., 32 feet east of the address it had leased for 32 years from C.
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