A two-and-one shot at entrepreneurship

BY JO MAHLUM

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

LUXEMBURG – A 2023 business venture turned into a unique story about a husband and wife who own stores right next to each other.

April and Tyler West signed a lease on May 1, to open their businesses right next door to each other, offering the community very different things.

“At the time when we started, my husband was being a stay-at-home dad while I worked a corporate job. I had tried selling online clothes which I was doing at the same time as my previous job,” recalled April.

“My husband had decided to restart his computer building and repairing company that he had down in Florida, where he was from. And so he was kind of doing that out of our home, and there really wasn’t enough space inside the home for everything.

“We saved up some money and we started looking for a space for him to rent. We kinda looked at a few different places, but they just didn’t work out for one reason or another. We actually called this place first, but the price they gave us was just too expensive. We ended up calling again and they gave us another price.

“After we looked at it, we saw that it was kind of a two-and-one piece. So we asked them if we could rent out both spaces. Since I already had my own online store with my own inventory, we thought why not just give something else to the community.”

April said that mornings consist of her playing the role of mommy to her three children while customers.

The afternoons are spent putting out new clothes, cleaning and tagging clothes as well as other tasks that are similar.

“There is always something that needs to be done so there is never really a dull moment,” said the owner of “Bless Sales.”

April sells locally-made items such as artwork and jewelry.

On the flip side of things, “Maxx Memory” is owned by Tyler West, with a focus on computer building and repairs.

You can find the pair right off Highway 54 on Commerce Drive in Luxemburg.