Historic Downtown Dickson Still in Business
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Some people like downtown. And some people really like it.
“I live‚ I work‚ I go to church and I have my burial plot all within about six blocks of downtown‚” Dale Ragan says‚ laughing‚ recounting one of his favorite jokes.
The merchant and businessman has long ties to the historic stretch of North Main that comprises thedowntown district of Dickson‚ Tenn. He runs his real estate office‚ Ragan’s Five Rivers Realty and Auction‚ right next to his furniture and appliance store‚ Ragan’s Friendly Neighbor Store‚ in the old Arcade building where his father set up shop just after World War II.
As a boy in the mid-1940s‚ Ragan played up and down these streets. In those days‚ downtown Dickson was much like any other in small-town America. Thirsty shoppers plunked down a nickel to sip Cokes through red-and-white striped paper straws. Ladies wore gloves‚ heels and pearls to run their errands‚ and the men wore hats – felt and flannel in the winter‚ and straw boaters after Memorial Day.
Much has changed in the six decades since‚ leaving many of America’s downtown districts little more than ghost towns‚ with more vacant and dusty storefronts than bustling businesses. But Dickson’s main business corridor is thriving‚ having retained much of its postwar charm. People still smile and say hello when a front-door bell signals a customer’s entrance into one of the two- and three-story masonry buildings‚ many of which date back to the turn of the 20th century.
There are fewer retailers and more offices‚ but some of the merchants‚ like Ragan‚ are second-generation storekeepers carrying on the family business.
Fussell’s Men and Boys Shop – pronounced “Fuzzle’s” – has been a fixture here for nearly seven decades. Anne Bass‚ who co-owns the shop with her two sisters‚ runs the place now‚ something she never thought she’d do.
Her father‚ Norman Fussell‚ opened the store during the height of the Great Depression‚ in 1936. He had gained retailing experience in Kentucky – where he married his wife‚ Billie – working at a JCPenney store. Norman and his Kentucky girl moved back to his hometown and weathered the lean times together in the family business while they raised their three girls.
There was no money for advertising‚ and at times‚ when the young couple didn’t have enough money to buy stock‚ they spread the merchandise sparsely along the shelves‚ trying to make them look fuller. The Fussell daughters helped out as youngsters‚ but none of them had an interest in carrying on the business until after their father’s death in 1980. The three sisters were willed the business‚ and Bass oversees the local operation where many of the same employees hired by her father still work today.
“None of us had worked in the store or wanted to since our teen-age years‚” Bass says. “We were all married‚ we all had children. I didn’t understand at the time why he had the legal ownership in the name of the three daughters. After he died‚ I realized slowly he saw us whenever‚ but he saw these people every day. It was very important to him that this store continue.”
The customer base has changed a lot over time‚ and the character of Main Street is different now‚ too. But Bass truly enjoys being part of the vital downtown community.
“Some of the specialty businesses have closed. There are more offices and antiques stores. We have really nice people‚ and several good eating places on Main Street that we didn’t used to have.”
Gus Alexander‚ coordinator of the Downtown Dickson organization‚ helps keep together the 110 or so businesses as a community. About half are members of the organization‚ which is interested in maintaining the district’s appeal to Dickson County residents and shoppers from a half-dozen or so outlying counties.
A railroad track runs through the middle of downtown‚ a favorite feature for many longtime residents. Historic charm‚ Alexander says‚ is just part of what draws people here.
“We promote and build up the downtown and maintain what we’ve got‚ because a lot of downtown areas have gone down in past years‚” he says. “We’ve got a very progressive downtown area.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by Ragan‚ who sees no mystery in the attraction to the little district.
He sums it up matter-of-factly: “It’s just a great place to shop and a great place to do business.”
Story by Ellen Margulies
Photo by Martin Bennett
