CJ's - Cheryl & Jim Jim Ferguson and Cheryl Leonard have opened a furniture/antiques/collectibles store on South Center Street in Flora. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald Jim Ferguson did painting jobs for 31 years. Now, he says he's doing something he really enjoys.

He and Cheryl Leonard have opened a new store in downtown Flora called CJ's. Collectors themselves, they offer things they like - furniture, antiques, and collectibles.

Especially with this economy, Jim said he wanted to offer nice, good, used furniture, and keep the prices down. He added that most of it is for everyday furnishing, but there are also some antique pieces.

The store also has paintings and prints, vintage business letterheads, dishes, glassware, arrowheads, and more. Coming soon will be old coins and knives.

One of the most unusual items in the store right now is an 1800s Mexican vase made out of clay.

Jim said these are rare because a couple traditionally broke the vase at their wedding.

Jim and Cheryl said they go to a lot of auctions, and that's mostly how they stock their store.

"Ninety percent of it is ours, and the rest is being sold on consignment," Jim said. He added that they also buy items from the public.

Cheryl said if people tell them they are looking for something in particular, they'll try to find it.

They said when they go to antique malls and such, they don't like it if it's too crowded with merchandise. So they took out some shelving in their store to give more room to walk around.

CJ's is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday by appointment.

Jim said they've been off to a good start, with support from the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, Flora business people, and the community.

"We've been really happy; the community has been great," Jim said.

Cheryl added that she can only be in the store on weekends because she has another job. She said she really enjoys talking to the people who come in.

"People remember the location as the old dime store, and they're glad to see a business in it," Jim said. He can remember coming to the dime store to buy candy a long time ago.

"We like a small town, and we're glad to help support the community," Jim said.

Jim and Cheryl are from Frankfort, but they said they'd like to move to Flora.

"We looked at Crawfordsville, Lebanon, and Lafayette to open our store, but we like it here," Cheryl said. "I feel God has blessed us."