By BEN FIELDS
The Independent
RUSSELL
March 18, 2007 12:03 am
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For years, the Fletcher House was a celebrated Russell restaurant.
Now the building is something more along the lines of what its name suggested; a house.
But it’s still a business. And the Fletcher family is still involved.
For the past two years, the building has been the home of This Old Couch, a consignment furniture store that has successfully pumped life back into one of the city’s more recognizable downtown locations.
“It’s not a typical used furniture store,” said Paul Fletcher, who owns and operates the business along with his wife, Lisa. “It’s a lot like walking into a house.
“You’ll see a dining room setting or a living room setting, and people can see this is what it might look like in their home.”
Paul and Lisa Fletcher were living in western Kentucky and were interested in moving back to Paul’s hometown of Russell, when the consignment idea came to the couple.
“Some friends of ours in the western part of the state had a store that was very much like the way we’ve set this one up,” Paul said. “We talked to them about how they did it, and saw how they did things, and decided to try it here.”
Paul Fletcher was working in computers in western Kentucky, and said the plan originally was for Lisa to operate the consignment shop, while he explored other areas.
But it didn’t quite work out that way.
“It became evident very quickly that this was a very time-consuming, full-time thing,” Paul said. “Right now, it’s a career for both of us.”
Not that Paul minds.
“I’ve always loved finely built furniture,” he said. “And we’re having a lot of fun doing what we’re doing.”
This Old Couch gets a lot of its furniture from estate sales, and from people who want to redecorate their homes, and end up getting rid of the old furniture.
The store splits the profits from a sale down the middle for furniture that is picked up, and does a 60-40 split for furniture brought into a store.
Paul said he hopes the business will grow, and, as it does, hopefully others will take an interest in downtown Russell.
“There’s certainly space here,” he said. “We think people will see the value in downtown Russell and want to come here.”
BEN FIELDS can be reached at bfields@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.
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