Commerce - A City on the Right Track

Story by Gail Ellen Daly
Photos by Joshua T. Barnett

The deep depression that followed the 1929 stock market crash forced merchant Nathan Jay to close his nine clothing stores. Piling what was left of his merchandise into a pickup truck, Jay headed to Commerce to start over.

In 1933 he opened Jay’s Department Store at the corner of South Broad Street and Central Avenue. Seventy-four years later, it is still in business. Terry Minish began working for Jay at age 15. When Jay retired, Minish bought the business. Jay, 87, now lives in Boca Raton, Fla.

“I guess I can’t get the downtown out of my blood,” Minish said.

Proud of his store’s history, he brought out a large framed ad dated October 1933.

“This was from the first fall sale,” he said, pointing to sketches of fur-collared coats and their unbelievable prices from $2.95 to $8.95.

Other memorabilia occupy prominent places. An old wood-bordered display case, the original cash register, a display of circa 1930s buttons and a pair of old theater seats. A circa 1970s cash register is still in use today.

If Jay’s has been serving customers for 74 years, Commerce Drugs’ history goes back even farther. The first thing you might notice is the old-fashioned soda fountain with booths and tables for a quick lunch at the back.

James Claude Hope and Bonner Durham Cumming founded the pharmacy 90 years ago, exactly where it stands today. James Lee Hope and James Jasper Harber Jr. succeeded the original owners. Elaine Harber still owns the business.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes,” said Charlotte Johnson.

Johnson, who has worked at the drug store for 42 years, said she has made a lot of friends and “worked for Commerce’s finest employers.”

The magazines and comic books are gone, but Johnson sees familiar faces bringing in their children and grandchildren for ice cream at the soda fountain.

“What’s happening here excites us,” said Keith Ariail, owner of McDonald Ace Hardware, of the downtown. “We’re redoing older buildings and retaining the integrity of the old Commerce.”

Ariail, a member of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), pointed to the organization’s good working relationship with the mayor and the city council.

“Government moves slowly,”

he said.

Loran McDonald Sr. founded the hardware store in 1954, locating on the main street. In 1972, he moved his business to a larger location on Central Avenue—a block off the main road.

Nine years ago, Ariail bought the business from McDonald Jr.

“There was gloom and doom that the Highway 129 bypass would kill Commerce,” he said, “but it didn’t happen and we’re bouncing back.”

Ariail notes that two antique shops bring customers, older businesses have remained while newer ventures open, old buildings are being renovated and several upstairs apartments are in the works, showing that interest in the city and its main streets remains high.

With its slogan “A City on the Right Track,” Commerce has always been a center of, well, commerce.

Few cities have a railroad that splits the center of its downtown—with streets on either side sporting different names. And how many cities changed their names to reflect their economies?

History shows that although the earliest white settlement in the area took place in 1784 between Commerce and Center, in 1808 Eli Shankle and his wife settled in what would become Harmony Grove.

Located between the mountain communities farther north and the markets in Athens, the growing village became a crossroads. Farmers heading both north and south would stop and camp in Harmony Grove. Soon they traded for items not available in the mountain towns, including plow goods, household utensils, clothing and shoes.

Although a farming community, with agricultural products its prime source of revenue, between 1810 and 1900 Harmony Grove became a prime cotton market. In 1876 the Northeastern railroad—later the Southern Railway, now the Norfolk Southern—completed its line through the village, connecting Athens and Gainesville.

According to the town’s history, prominent citizens W.B.J. Hardman and C.W. Hood guaranteed $50,000 worth of railroad stock if the line bypassed Jefferson and located in Harmony Grove.

Not surprisingly, the town began to change its focus. Businesses located on either side of the railroad tracks as the railroad brought customers to the town. Banks and professional offices followed. At one time, there was two-way traffic on both sides of the tracks.

In 1884, Harmony Grove officially incorporated as a city. Twenty years later, the thriving city changed its name to Commerce.

Times changed, the world moved on, and malls and shopping centers siphoned off customers.

Determined to resurrect the historic city, attract new business and keep the old, in 1985 Commerce applied for and was accepted into the national Main Street USA Program.

“At that time there was a change from a manufacturing economy to a service economy and therefore changes in area jobs,” said current Program Director Hasco Craver. “Plus there was a change in consumers’ habits.”

Craver explained that to be eligible, a city must have a minimum population of 5,000 within the city limits. The program’s four-point approach to historic downtown redevelopment is organization, design, restructuring existing structures and promotion.

“It includes contemporary uses for historic structures, contacting banks, civic groups and volunteers,” Craver said. “And we’re a clearing house for small businesses.”

After the outlet mall opened in the mid 1980s, a flood of chains opened along U.S. 441 within sight of the I-85 Commerce exit. But resurgence in historic downtowns and downtown shopping and recreation prompted the city’s government to revitalize a once-thriving downtown.

To date, the efforts have been successful. New businesses have opened. Non-chain restaurants invite diners.

Three years ago, when Abby Lawler opened Common Road Bakery she did some advertising. With special cake and bread orders, combined with a breakfast and lunch crowd, Lawler said she no longer advertises. Nevertheless, new customers find her Central Avenue bakery.

Robert House, who owns the Opera House Restaurant, is currently renovating the second floor, restoring the former opera house to its glory days for use as a performing arts center.

Chris Bray, owner of Chris’s Place, owns the building next door to her salon, which is also under renovation.

“Through matching grants of $2,500 per project, seven area banks are funding façade renovations,” Craver said. “The improvements include masonry and awnings.”

Gina Hagan, who owns The Joy Shoppe, noted that façade renovation is in her near-future plans. The fourth owner of the shop, Hagan just celebrated her four-year anniversary as owner. She noted that her customers come from a 15-mile radius since she carries unusual merchandise not found elsewhere in the area.

“We have a bridal registry, offer free gift wrapping and free delivery within five miles,” she said. “This is a good time to be downtown.”

When the Postal Service decided to build a new facility on the bypass, government leaders convinced them to build it downtown instead.

“Jimmy Parham, who was postmaster, helped convince them not to build out on the bypass,” said Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr.

Hardy, known to all as Buzzie, said the Main Street Program’s streetscape plan has “paid big dividends.” He gave credit to the DDA for “doing an excellent job and making it look great.”

Hardy also pointed to the Civic Center, a former mill given to the city, that hosted more than 600 events last year; the historic Presbyterian Church transformed into a cultural center the DDA maintains and the renovation of the old post office for use as the city hall.

Looking great includes new directional signs to assist pedestrians and façade signs that are not loud and obnoxious.

“There are still a lot of projects we’re working on,” the 18-year incumbent mayor said, “but it all takes money.”

Money helped renovate Spencer Park, a quiet spot where one can sit and relax while children play on the new playscape. What’s called the “centerpiece” of downtown became reality as the business community took part in the renovation by raising $50,000 in private donations, while the public works department supplied some of the labor.

“It’s a true public/private partnership,” Craver said. “There’s a strong local commitment, a strong volunteer pool.”

David Sanders, whose family has owned Sanders Furniture Store since 1913, agreed that most business owners are committed to downtown.

M.T. Sanders, a traveling salesman who married a local girl, founded the business as a furniture store and mortuary. In 1963 the funeral home was discontinued.

“To have a viable business here you must be committed,” he said. “But we even have loyal customers who come from Athens and we still offer free delivery.”

With third and fourth generation customers, Sanders knows he must be competitive with the two other furniture stores in the downtown area.

“But Jackson County’s population is exploding and having three area stores brings people in,” he said.

Craver knows growth is coming, but he sees what’s happening in Gwinnett County and West Jackson County.

“We’ll be better situated to manage it and prepare for it,” he explained. “I don’t see Commerce becoming a bedroom community.”

In addition to downtown redevelopment, Hardy pointed to the Commerce Industrial Park near I-85, the recently completed almost one million square-foot building and the partnership between landowner John Rooker, the city and the Industrial Development Authority.

“We control what goes in there,” he pointed out.

Craver sees Commerce as a place for people to live, work and shop.

“This (historic) district keeps the nucleus of our town together,” Minish said. “Regardless of growth we’ll keep it together.”