Recession? What recession? In Bell Buckle, profits roll

Wilma Davis takes a break from selling and sewing in her Bell Buckle shop Treasures from the Hollow. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

Unemployment is down -- and it's up. Prices are dropping, skyrocketing, or remaining stable.

It seems every newspaper, every news program and everybody is an expert on the economy, yet every one of them has a different interpretation on what's going on in the marketplace.

In one town, however, the situation seems clear.

Business is good in Bell Buckle.

Spaces filled

"When we moved in here three months ago, there were four empty stores," said Wilma Davis, who owns the new Treasures from the Hollow with her husband, Dwayne. "Now there's only one."

In fact, according to Billy Phillips, who owns Phillips General Store and is president of the Chamber of Commerce in Bell Buckle, even that one empty store could be filled soon.

"The woman who owns the Painted Clay studio in Tullahoma is planning to open one here," said Phillips.

Treasures in the Hollow is also a spin-off of sorts. The Davises also own Lost and Found Relics (lostandfound.com), a store in Lynchburg that specializes in Jack Daniel memorabilia and hot sauces. The Bell Buckle store has the hot sauce, too, but its biggest sellers are authentic Civil War artifacts and wine supplies.

"We also have handmade crafts, a few antiques, jams and jellies and 100 percent soy candles," said Davis. She is the one making most of the crafts and keeps a sewing machine by the cash register. "And we're the area representatives for White's metal detectors."

New faces

Other old stores now occupied by new businesses include Two Doors Down, the third business owned by Shirley Johns in Bell Buckle, who also has the Doodlebug and Doodlebug Too; Vera's Pearls, offering antiques and collectibles; and RADAR, a clothing shop offering fun and funky clothes for the teenage set.

"It's been a big hit with the Webb kids," said Phillips. "That's a market none of us really thought about before."

Two Doors Down originally housed speciality lines of clothing, and probably will again after the holidays, but from now until Christmas, Santa has landed.

"We moved the fashions over to Doodlebug Too for the holidays," said Mary Ingram in between customers. "We're doing Christmas collectibles, ornaments, candles, that kind of thing."

'Unique' aura

The holiday decorations, some as low as $2, have a folksy, unique feel to them -- and that is what Phillips said is the driving factor behind Bell Buckle's success.

"We have unique businesses offering unique things," he said. "This is not mall stuff. You can take dinner out and go to a movie and a mall and spend $100 in a couple of hours. You can spend all day here, get a meal at the café, take something home with you and not spend that much."

Although many of the stores offer similar items, such as antiques or folk art, none of them offer identical items and it's that one-of-a-kind niche that the town fills, said Phillips.

Visitors from Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania and other states further north are common in the small town, he said. Cost is a factor, they tell him.

"We always forget how much cheaper life is down here," he said.

He said just the experience of eating at the café, window shopping, grabbing an ice cream cone at the Bluebird, and sitting in a rocking chair and watching the trains go by makes the trip worthwhile to many of his visitors.

"I look out my window and see people just sitting around and visiting. It's great," he said. "And some of them are even locals!"

Bright outlook

Of course, opening a new business isn't all easy sailing.

"We have some good days, we have some zero days," said Davis. "I think 2010 is going to be a lot better."

Offering a unique experience is as important as offering a unique item and the Davises recently held a metal detecting workshop for those interested in the hobby. They hope to have a "seeded" treasure hunt for children soon, in which artifacts are buried in a designated area and the children use the metal detectors to seek them out.

"It's a lot of fun," she said.