By Bob Arnold
When Janet Currie took stock of the things she had collected after returning to the Wesson area with her husband to live in the house built by her great grandfather in which she grew up, the now experienced businesswoman did what came naturally: she opened a store to sell them.
Over 25 years, the store has not only sold her inherited chinaware, but added gifts, decorative accessories and other collectibles to the wide assortment of the products it sells. In the process, Currie has become known as Wesson’s gifts lady, and her store as the place to go when you want something special to give for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and other occasions.
Today, Currie says she is learning her business all over again after a move to smaller quarters, but the gift lady and her store are still there for Wesson folk seeking that special something for special people on special occasions.
Currie grew up in the Wesson countryside off Sylvarena Road in the old house built by Elbert Jefferson Case, spending lots of time with her grandmother while her parents operated an oil field equipment supply company. She recalls Wesson back in the 1950s and 1960s as “a great place to grow up” where she played with friends and enjoyed going to school, which left her with “fond memories of my teachers.”
She graduated from Co-Lin High School in 1970 before it became part of Wesson Attendance Center as Wesson High School. She studied on and off during the 1970s at Co-Lin Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. Currie also started her work life with the City of Jackson tax assessor’s office and travelled throughout Mississippi as a commercial real estate appraiser. , Along the way, she met A.C. Currie, whom she married in 1980 and helped rear his two sons, Bruce and Andrew.
Currie sold real estate in the Vicksburg area during the 1980s after settling there with her husband and was a representative for a plumbing and air conditioning manufacturer during the 1990s.
In 1990, she also opened her first retailing venture in Vicksburg – Yesterday’s Treasures antique mall – to sell all the old stuff she relished collecting so she could collect more, which was her passion. When she came home, the Wesson store was her second one, begun while she was still operating the Vicksburg store. She called the new store “Another Time. . . Another Place” reflecting its relationship to her initial retailing venture – a different store for a different time. “Looking back, I probably should have called it ‘Janet’s’,’” she jokes.
Over the past two decades, Currie has served her community as an active member of the Wesson Chamber of Commerce, including president.
After 25 years, Another Time. . . .Another Place has begun a new life in the small one-room white cottage on Highway 51 in front of the Mill Town Mall Antique and Flea Market in downtown Wesson.
“I’m downsizing, and it’s a challenge to discern what people will buy and focusing on a narrower product line that will sell when the consumer, increasingly, is shopping online,” she says. “I’m learning the business all over again.”
What are your hobbies? Collecting got me into the retail business, and I continue to collect. Old stuff, particularly. I am proud of my Santa Claus collection. I also love decorating at Christmas time. And then there are my animals. Two adopted dogs -- a 12-year-old Vischon Frise and a Chiwawa – and other mixed breeds. Seven cats – five that live outside, and two inside.
Are you a reader? I used to be into novels, although not so much anymore because of my vision. Earl Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason novels and George Simenon’s Jules Maigret mysteries – two of my favorites
Do you enjoy movies or theater? In the 42 years I’ve been married, I’ve only been to theaters and movie houses a couple of time, although I do enjoy plays. And then, of course, the old Perry Mason episodes and special movies on television with those complex plots. You can watch them over and over again, and still want to see them again.
Do you enjoy any music? I did play the clarinet in elementary, but am mostly a listener. I am a 1960s and 1970s rock and grunge fan.
What would you do with lottery winnings if you were so lucky? I have never bought a lottery ticket. So that will never happen. I have good, blessed life without lottery winnings.
How would you change the world? People need to be more tolerant of each other, learn to live in harmony and be less judgmental.
Comments