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Some of Rena Thorne's best memories are of the time she spent working alongside her parents at their furniture store. She's hoping her daughter Carmen may one day fondly recall her experiences at her parent's new store, Dollar and Cents. Thorne and her husband Ralph are planning to open the doors on their new venture Tuesday and sell all sorts of items for about a dollar.
The Thornes has been seriously thinking about opening some sort of business for some time but took slow steps to determine exactly the type of store that would have the most chance of success. They finally decided on the concept of selling commonly used items at bargain basement prices.
"We researched this thing for about two years ... I went and visited a lot of stores doing this," he said. According to Thorne, a lot of people who start this type of store have another one up and running in about a year. The fact that Marietta doesn't have a similar store was a plus.
Rena Thorne said another big consideration was the amount of time each had to devote to the business. Both have other jobs and other pursuits but the timing appeared to be right at this point. "We both got to the point where we got other things cleared up," she said.
Dollar and Cents is in the Frontier Shopping Center next to the Sports Med. It will open with one seasonal employee and four regular employees, all part time. The stores 26 "departments" include household products, kitchen supplies, gift bags, and disposable products.
Thorne said she expects to devote her full time to the business in about three months as she wraps up projects at the Washington Morgan Community Action Agency where she is currently employed. She said Carmen has already helped out stocking the shelves. She said for the 5-year-old, opening boxes was a little like an early Christmas. She said she hopes her daughter will learn some valuable lessons from a family business. She said it's a good way to get used to dealing with the public and building confidence.
"There are values you can teach you children ... (such as) where the money comes from," she said. She said while the store will require a lot more attention than a typical 9 to 5 job, there are plenty of opportunities for quality family time, too.
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