Coiner Grand Emporium Has Something for Everyone

Story and photo by Rebecca Maynard

After many years of standing empty, the Coiner building at 26 East Main Street in Berryville is open to shoppers once more.

On December 6, Coiner Grand Emporium had its grand opening. Described by owner Jerry Johnson as a general store, its extensive inventory includes new and vintage items such as hats, collectible figurines, antique radios, lamps, toys, comic books, greeting cards, baseball cards, jewelry, candy and much more.

“Yesterday is waiting for you at Coiner Grand Emporium,” he said.

Coiner’s Department Store was founded by Emmett G. Coiner in 1896 and later purchased by Chet Hobert, who ran it until its shutdown almost a century later. A recent Barns of Rose Hill exhibit included people’s recollections of the store’s “cash trolley” used when customers paid for merchandise. Instead of a cash register, clerks sent payments along the trolley to an office upstairs. An office worker then sent the trolley down with change and a receipt.

Times have changed and the building has been closed since the early 2000s, but now with extensive renovations complete, it is once again a beautiful and welcoming place for customers of all ages. Over the weekend before Christmas, Santa welcomed children into the store and gave out gifts, harkening back to an era when department store Santas were still commonplace, Johnson said.

“There’s something for everybody from little kids to grandmas,” said Danielle Smith, one of the store’s co-managers who assisted with its renovation. Smith grew up in Clarke County and attended Clarke County High School, so she knows firsthand what Coiner’s history means to the community.

“Every other person who comes through the door has memories of shopping here in the past,” she said. “The community is really excited and we even had someone bring in their mother with dementia because she used to come in the store as a teen.”

Smith said that the upstairs was originally the toy section of Coiner’s Department store. While it is not open to the public yet, the plan is to display and sell large format paintings and furniture. Johnson, she said, particularly enjoys the 

Civil War and paintings by Mort Künstler and John Paul Strain. 

Coiner Grand Emporium has a Facebook page as well as a website, www.coinergrandemporium.com. Hours are currently daily from 10am to 7pm.

“My arms are full,” explained a happy customer who approached the register during the interview for this article, whose purchases included a hat and Cracker Jacks. “I want to buy everything.”