Our Building
In 2014, the Cooks purchased the buildings at 409 & 411 W. Main for a mere $10,500 apiece. The deteriorating buildings had sat empty since 1998 but the Cook sisters immediately saw the potential. Ally and Margot have a keen interest in local history, particularly downtown Ionia history. They’re quick to let people know that their buildings are the only two in all of downtown Ionia whose facades remain unchanged.
In 1881, J.V. Consul out of Grand Haven was commissioned by Peter Hackett to begin construction on the buildings at 407 & 409 W. Main. The Ionia Produce Co. was the first known business on the service-side of the building, followed by Cut Rate Clothing Co. at the turn of the 20th century. By 1917, Hackett’s Farm Implements had found its home at 407 and remained there until L & D Hardware opened its doors in the 1950s. It remained L & D Hardware until 1998.
The first recorded history of the dining-side of the building is from 1891 with Graff & Whorley Meat Market. Although the business changed hands numerous times, it remained a meat market until the mid-1950s when Richardson Sewing Machine Sales, A-B Mattress Co. and Home Heating Co. all moved into the building together. In 1958, L & D Appliance Center joined the hardware operation next-door by carving a walkway through the interior brick.
The Cook family is no stranger to buying dilapidated buildings and restoring them, but this is the first time they made the decision to open their own business in one of their restoration projects. It took nearly 5 years but the sisters moved into the second floor of the building in 2016 and officially opened up shop on the commercial level in August 15, 2019.