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Sister Act: Siblings start home goods shop in 138-year-old building with family ties

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Nearly a century after their great-great-grandfather first purchased downtown Springfield property for his furniture shop, a pair of local sisters are now proprietors of one of the same buildings he once owned.

March 5 was opening day for J.L. Long Traders LLC, a home goods store owned by sisters Kaleen Long and Kelle Rathe at 318 W. Walnut St. It’s the first business ownership venture for the siblings who also recently bought the roughly 3,600-square-foot building constructed in 1884.

“Kaleen kind of had the idea she wanted to do this for a while, and I had always thought if I ever moved back home, I’d like to have a little corner in an antique shop. So, it grew a little from there,” Rathe said, adding she and her sister are currently the lone employees.

J.L. Traders occupies roughly 1,800 square feet on the first floor of the all-brick building, and the sisters lease the upper portion to bridal shop Evermore Bride LLC, which opened early last year. The sisters’ shop sells home decor, antique furniture, rugs, jewelry, books and clothing.

The business name pays tribute to their great-great-grandfather, who started J.L. Long & Sons Furniture & Carpet Co. in 1903 on Commercial Street, the sisters say. Three of his four sons – Charley, Fred and Ralph – were involved in the company. Long moved the company downtown 20 years later after purchasing the building where the home goods shop stands today, as well as the adjacent structure now occupied by Flame Steakhouse and legal-notices publication The Daily Events. The sisters believe the furniture shop closed in either the late 1950s or early 1960s.

“We’ve asked our family, but no one can recall the exact time,” Long said. “I haven’t come across that in any research.”

Long and Rathe declined to disclose startup costs for the venture, which included the building purchase late last year from Dale and Connie Detoni. However, a deed of trust for the property on file with the Greene County recorder’s office shows a note amount of $225,000 between J.L. Long Traders LLC and Springfield First Community Bank.

Hometown return
The sisters were born and raised in Springfield, but each moved away for college in the early 2000s and lived elsewhere for over a decade. Long left in 2004 to attend Yale University and Rathe headed to California in 2007 to enroll in Pepperdine University. Both graduated from their respective schools, and Long returned to Missouri for medical school and residency at University of Missouri-Columbia.

Long relocated to Springfield in 2018, followed by her younger sister in 2020, who came back to marry Dan Rathe, her hometown sweetheart. Since her return, Long has worked as a pediatrician with Mercy Springfield Communities.

Both sisters each lived in Washington, D.C. – two years for Long and eight for Rathe – but never overlapped. Rathe said she went for a desk assistant program with NBC News for administrative, operational and editorial work for various network programs. She then worked for the Motion Picture Association for three years, adding she still is a freelance writer for the Washington-based trade organization.

Rathe said J.L. Long Traders marks her return to full-time work. Even though the sisters weren’t born before J.L. Long’s store closed, being downtown – Walnut Street, in particular – is a familiar scene for them.

“Downtown, we feel like we grew up here. Kelle did a ton of plays at the [Springfield] Little Theatre, and I did too up to a point,” Long said. “Getting back into this artistic community is where we wanted to be. We found this building which seemed like a perfect fit given our family history and heritage. It seems like the right thing at the right time.

“If we couldn’t find a space like this, we weren’t going to do it.”

Rusty Worley, executive director of the Downtown Springfield Association, welcomed the addition to the urban retail scene, noting its proximity to other retailers, such as clothing and home accessories company Five Pound Apparel LLC.

“That space has a lot of character,” he said. “That’s the kind of retail we love seeing come to downtown.”

He said the space has been primarily retail over the years and was most recently occupied from 2016-18 by Lush at Bartique LLC, a women’s boutique that also offered a full-service bar, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Prior to then, Nomad, another retail shop, operated there before moving to Commercial Street.

Worley said J.L. Long Traders last month joined the DSA, which promotes and advocates for downtown businesses. It also hosts retail meetings and quarterly mixers for its membership.

Starting up
Numerous old family photos dot the home goods store’s walls, sharing space with more modern creations from their vendors including vinyl record clocks. Rathe said roughly 12 vendors – mostly local – are on board and more are being sought.

All vendors are on consignment, Rathe said, adding she and her sister have connections to most of them, such as Austin Jackson with Jackson Woodworks and Beth Domann, executive director of Springfield Little Theatre. Domann makes and sells miniature wooden trees and bath bombs, Rathe said.

“Springfield’s our home. We love it here and want to invest in our community and create opportunities,” Rathe said. “That’s why a lot of our vendors are local people – as many as we can get here.”

After its opening weekend, the shop closed for a few days to have one of its walls sealed to better protect the brick from crumbling. It’s an early lesson in building ownership and maintenance, the sisters admit.

Even though they’ve just started on their new brick-and-mortar venture, customers already are asking about e-commerce options. Rathe said it’s the No. 1 question they’ve received thus far. Adding online sales is in their plans, but no timetable is set.

“It’s just the two of us running it right now. This was all I could handle for now, just unlocking the door,” she said with a laugh.

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