“We want to spread the word,” Sandra Spencer said. “We were concerned not to keep the building vacant. We thought we could rent it out, but Gary thought there were too many vacancies downtown.”
Gary Spencer said he didn’t want to contribute to another closed downtown business. When his building became vacant in April, he said the couple decided it was easier to reopen than try to rent in such a tough economy. The decision wasn’t a difficult one, they said.
“I enjoy it,” Gary Spencer said about the business originally opened by his father, Harold, more than 50 years ago. He said he learned the ropes from his father while attending school, and took it over from him in the late 1970s.
When the business was sold to Ken McCarthy in 2006, Gary Spencer said he worked at the store daily for the first six months. He said he continued working there three times a week just prior to McCarthy relocating his flooring business to a site on Grant Line Road.
As owners of the 10th Street building, the Spencers said they wanted to get the word out that they are back. She said people are excited about the reopening, which will become official in a couple weeks.
Working on their new product line, Gary Spencer said he is cherry-picking what the store will carry for flooring and window coverings. The Spencers are also redesigning their display area.
Sandra Spencer said her loyal customer base has have been inquiring about the reopening. While sweeping outside the building the other day, she said a former classmate of Gary said they were glad to see them back.
The business, now operating under the name Gary W. Spencer Floors, will be open Monday through Saturday.
Spencer Floor Coverings is around for 50 years. McCarthy buys it in 2006, keeps the name, and operates out of the same building that the Spencer family still owns and apparently rents to McCarthy.
McCarthy relocates the business and the Spencers reopen as Gary W. Spencer Floors in the same spot.
This seems very scummy to me on the part of the Spencers.
I'm sure when they sold Spencer Floor Coverings there was a non-compete clause in the agreement saying they would not operate another floor covering business in the area for a certain period of time.
I am also sure the non-compete clause has expired and that the Spencers are well within their rights legally to open shop again.
I understand that business is business, but in a small town like Tracy, to me this seems pretty low-handed.
I have no insight into what happened behind the scenes but I am guessing the Spencers weren't thrilled when McCarthy moved the business and that there was an element of, however slight, "we'll show him."
Isn't McCarthy a bit of a hometown hero? Didn't the TP run an article fairly recently about him performing CPR on a woman who collapsed on a sidewalk downtown?
I, for one, will not do business with Gary W. Spencer Floors.