Published: December 26, 2008 06:50 pm      

Longtime shop offers goods to brighten homes

DANVILLE — Nothing brightens up a tired-looking dining area like red-and-white checked chair cushions, a matching window valance, and coordinated placemats.

A small, antique table might be just the piece to fill in that empty corner. And how about a colorful floral arrangement in a wicker basket for the center of the dining table?

All this and more can be found at Browse-A-Round, a unique store for home décor that has served the area for 21 years. It’s located at 310 N. Vermilion St.

“After all these years, some people don’t even know what we have to offer,” store owner Alita Schlunaker said. “That’s why we invite them to come down and ‘browse around.’ We have so many seat cushions, placemats, wicker and vinyl pieces, and bolts of material in our store.”

Alita said she hopes to inspire customers with her colorful showroom even on the dreariest of days.

Alita has been a hard worker all her life, and at age 70 she continues to pour her heart and soul into her business. She had a job sewing for the Windbreaker jacket factory for 20 years before starting her home-decorating store.

Pat Westphal of Danville has been shopping at Browse-A-Round for many years.

“I can always find something here,” she said. “I love to just come here and wander around to see what’s new. Alita covered some dining room chairs for me recently, and they are beautiful. We’re so lucky to have a store like Browse-A-Round right here in Danville.”

STORE HISTORY

In 1978, while Alita was busy sewing at her factory job, her future husband Larry and his brother, Jerry, who is now deceased, opened a used furniture store on Hazel Street.

“My brother came up with the ‘Browse-A-Round’ name way back then,” Larry said, “and we’ve kept it ever since.” Jerry bowed out of the business two years after it was opened, which left Larry as the sole owner for the next six years.

Larry also was working at General Motors at that time — a job that he held from 1964 to 1990.

Larry and Alita met in 1988 and married the following year. “One of the first things Larry said to me after we started dating was, ‘We need to open a store together,’” Alita said.

So that year they acquired an inventory of used furniture, added wicker to the retail line, and opened a store at 801 W. Williams St.

Browse-A-Round moved once more, to 321 N. Vermilion St., before settling at its current location in 1999. “Years ago, our current store building housed the upscale women’s store Deutsch Uptown,” Alita said, “and then it was the Magnolia Tree for a while.”

After some time in the business, Alita realized that the people of Danville wanted another place where they could buy quality antiques. Before long, she and Larry added a nice selection of antique furniture to their store’s inventory.

“Larry was always the muscle man behind the business,” Alita said. “He would take his 46-foot-long truck and trailer rig down to Mississippi and pick up antiques by the trailer-full. We still have five warehouses filled with old and antique furniture today.”

SEWING AGAIN

About 10 years ago, Alita got the urge to start sewing again. She bought a bolt of material and made a set of seat cushions and matching valances. “That set sold right away, and before long I had all sorts of requests for chair cushions and matching valances,” she said with a smile.

Before long, Alita decided to carry only Waverly material so customers could order matching bedspreads and comforters through that company. Today she finds herself surrounded by hundreds of bolts of material in all colors and configurations that customers can choose from — including special material that’s suitable for sunroom furniture and outdoor chairs.

“And if a customer doesn’t find what she wants in the store, then we can always order from the Waverly company,” she said.

Alita is well-equipped in the back room of the store for just about anything she chooses to sew. She has six sewing machines at her disposal, and several are the industrial kind.

The demand for custom-sewn items grew to such proportions that Alita hired an assistant — Beverly Black — who joined the business nearly two years ago. In the 1970s, Black owned a bridal shop in Danville called “Brides, etc.,” but she lived out of state for more than 20 years before returning to Danville.

Black also custom-sews for customers, but she specializes in Roman shades, draperies, curtains, and slipcovers, which are some of the items that Alita doesn’t have time to make.

“In addition to sewing, I also want to be available to meet with my customers,” Alita said. “I want to help them select material and to give them other decorating ideas.

CUSTOM WORK

“It’s getting more difficult all the time to find professionals who do custom sewing,” Alita added. “And with so many women working outside their homes nowadays, they don’t have the time to sew for themselves. Those are the women who come to us for their custom work.”

Alita has seen so many homes in Danville transformed through multiple décor changes over the past four decades. “It used to be that cranberry was the most popular color in home decorating,” Alita said, “but now aqua seems to be big. The people in this area also like the French country style, and they always go for the blues. But different shades of blue come and go all the time.

“By far, the red-and-white checks, plaids, and any pattern with big red apples have been the most popular choices throughout the years,” she added.

Some of the items for sale at Browse-A-Round include restored furniture, wicker, rattan, and the new outdoor vinyl furniture. Alita also carries Waverly fabrics and matching comforter sets, chair cushions and matching valances and placemats.

The store features craft items such as grapevine wreaths, silk flowers, ribbon on the roll, baskets in all shapes and sizes, and pre-made wreaths, swags and silk flower arrangements. Alita also carries a full line of silk trees, including fig, banana palm, wisteria and apple.

“I just love my work, and I love my customers,” Alita said. “I plan to work as long as I can so I can continue to help people make their homes beautiful.”