After more than 50 years of service to The Ladies Apparel Shop, Janice Hunkins is retiring and selling the business. (Beverly Clinkingbeard photo)

By Beverly Clinkingbeard

The display windows change often; the “ladies” silently modeling the latest fashion available. The shop is on the main street of Shenandoah, Iowa, Sheridan Avenue. On entry, a customer is faced with racks of color of every size and design.

This is The Ladies Apparel Shop owned by Ed and Janice (Chambers) Hunkins of Tarkio, Missouri. Janice graduated from Tarkio High School in 1972. She had often shopped in Shenandoah with her mother, Margaret (Racine) Chambers, and remembers her first Bobbi Brooks outfit was purchased at Ladies Apparel. Mr. Lindell was the owner then and she remembers being a cheeky red head and recent graduate in need of a job asking, “When are you going to hire me?”

Two days later, Mr. Lindell called. He had a job for Janice. She lived with her sister, Sharon, and husband, and walked to work until mid-September, when she married Ed Hunkins and moved to Tarkio. Though the new job was as an errand girl, Janice was thrilled. She made herself useful and was required to wear a dress. There were seven full-time employees. Eventually, she was like a daughter to the Lindells and the manager of the store said, “What would I do without you!”

In the mid-1980s, Janice became store manager and took her first airplane ride. They went to the fashion market in Chicago, Illinois. It was a new experience and she loved looking at the clothes and imagining who would wear what. As manager, she also learned the mechanics of marketing. At the time, there were several other dress shops or places to buy clothing and the discount stores weren’t the factor they are today.

Fast forward and Mr. Lindell wanted to retire. On February 14, 1991, Ed and Janice invested in The Ladies Apparel Shop. Ed had sold his business and was now a rural mail carrier. The timing seemed right for ownership. Also in August of 1991, a son, Garrett, entered their lives. He was often at the store until mobility changed the routine. However, Garrett maintains he was “raised in retail.”

There have been several challenges to being a business owner: a vent fire, a flood in 1993, another business fire on Sheridan that put Janice to stuffing towels at the door to keep the sooty debris from sifting in, and of course, Covid. Always, Ed and her family have been on stand-by to lend her a hand. Her mother, Margaret, worked as sales lady for many years and had a knack for matching clothes to personalities. She had gained a lot of experience as the mother of seven and also as an Avon lady. After retiring from the store, she was available as an after-school sitter for Garrett, as was Ed.

Now, 51 years later, Janice is ready to retire. Ed has already done so. The Ladies Apparel Shop is for sale. In reflecting on the business, Janice said she has worked hard, but remarked that it has been rewarding. Along with a loyal customer base, her effort to keep up with the “change of styles and times” has kept the store progressive and competitive. Initially, they only sold dresses. As trousers became popular, the fashion choices included sport with classy dresses, too. Today, it is color and more color with all sizes and styles. The shop is crammed with accessories and choices. That the store is for sale – contents and building – is bittersweet. There is an apartment on the second floor that Janice has used for visiting family or for herself when the roads were iffy.

Though the store is for sale, there is a full line of fall fashions on the way. The Ladies Apparel annual Christmas open house is Saturday, October 5.

In retirement, Ed and Janice plan on enjoying more time with their son, Garrett, his wife, Megan, their two-year-old son, Augie, and his baby brother expected in November.  Garrett is an attorney and lives in the Overland Park/Kansas City area. Here is wishing the best for the Hunkins family as life marches on.

’Til next time . . .