By MIA BLOCHER, Huntington Herald-Press
mblocher@h-ponline.com
After 27 years of serving the Huntington community, the Korner Kupboard will be closing its doors.
The neighbor store, which sells handcrafted wood furniture, house decor and gifts, is currently having a total liquidation sale with prices slashed as much as 75 percent.
Owners Tom and Janice McElhaney hated to close Korner Kupboard, particularly because the economic downturn could cause hardship for any new business trying to open downtown. But the McElhaneys felt it was necessary to completely retire.
"We've had 27 years that we've been doing this, so its in [our lives] 24/7 and you can never get away from it," Janice McElhaney said. "So the only way to really ever be able to have another life is to break clear away from it."
The McElhaneys will miss seeing the shop's regular customers.
"[We have] good memories [of] all the people [we've] come to know in 27 years," Janice McElhaney said, adding, "Hopefully we'll still see them out and about."
The Korner Kupboard was founded by Joan Fields, a friend of the McElhaneys, whose life-long dream was to run her own handcrafted gift shop. Fields began by selling stuffed animals at local bazaars and eventually recruited resident Janice Miller to help her open a shop downtown.