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14 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, July 23, 1985 Because business and life is so great here... Lukes couldn't live anywhere else Up until he put his money down on a well us- ed '53 Pontiac, Wayne Luke had never set foot in Port Perry Bespectacled, lanky Wayne and his petite wife Carolyn lived and toiled in Oshawa, at the Motors and a hairdress- ing salon respectively, but neither had ever travelled the awesome distance between Motor City and Port. But Wayne had shelled out good money for the old car and it looked like a nice day for a trip, so the couple headed north and wound up in a char- ming village with tree- lined streets. Port Perry. 1 remember saying at the time, if we were ever going to move to a small town, it would be here, "Wayne says, leaning forward in an unfinished antique chair. 'We thought living here would be like paradise." Wayne, now 41, and 38 year old Carolyn realized their dream 12 years ago and haven't looked back. They're two of Scugog's most successful business partners, owning and operating three stores in the area, Luke's Country Store in Port Perry, Luke's in Oshawa and the newly opened Vic- torian Card Shop on Queen Street. Which is a far cry frem working on the line at GM or giving elderly ladies blue rinses at a beauty parlour. "I hated it on the line," Wayne recalls 'So | quit and eventually went on the road buying and sell- Ing antiques." Ever since they can remember Wayne and Carolyn have been notoriously interested in antiques, fancy architec ture and anything old or handcrafted Even while going steady the pair us- ed to haunt gift shops, never suspecting or even dreaming they'd end up with stores of their own Their passion for col- lectables heated up when they cleared their grand- mother's house of anti- ques after her death Trips to New England gift shops heightened their intere. even more, not to mention the in- fluence of a friend who literally became a self- made millionaire selling antiques. : The combined pressures were more than enough to send Wayne scurrying from his job at the Motors, headlong into the business of buying and selling antiques wholesale. But even that wasn't enough. Sensing an op- portunity in the offing, the couple held their breath, took a major chance, and rented a shop on Queen Street. Luke's Country Store was only half as big then as it is now. It wasn't un- til a few years later that the young entrepreneurs bought the building from a monolithic Toronto of- fice filled with lawyers (*'That was something else," Wayne says with a grin. "Just me and Carolyn negotiating with these guys in suits.'), took over the store next door and made Luke's Basically what it is today. Three years ago they bought the store in Oshawa, and a year later they picked up the Mersco store beside their own Port Perry shop, all the while thinking about setting up a retail card business Ever since they realiz- ed what a hit the Country Store was making with gift buyers from all over, they knew they needed more space for cards and wrapping accessories They bought the old Mersco store with cards in mind but were forced to wait a year for the lease to be up In the meantime, Tom and J THURS., JULY 25th Uxbridge Secondary School se LIVE! 7:30 P.M. KAREN E. HUNT ELECTROLYSIS Permanent Hair Removal Waxing Now Available Free Consultations Day or Evening Appointments 985-9085 Daphne Mitchell opened their own card shop, just a few stores down the street. Not surprisingly, the Mitchell's move concern- ed the Lukes about the chances of two card shops doing well in a town the size of Port Perry. But they needn't have worried. The Victorian Card Shop, opened this spring and has done bet- ter than the Lukes anticipated. "We were very, very pleased with the response," Wayne says. "And we're still look- ing for more lines, that's how well we're doing, adds Carolyn. The card shop is en- tirely different than the Mitchell's store, or for that matter, any other store in town. The store was renovated from top to bottom with new wiring, plumbing, heating, everything. Even the apartments upstairs were totally gutted and remodelled with fresh dry-wall and spanking new kitchen cupboards. And to top it all off, skylights will be install- ed soon, as soon as they arrive from Germany. But it's the decor of the Victorian Card Shop which is so interesting. A gingerbread and stained glassy framed deorway opens up the wall bet- ween the shop and the Country Store, but the two businesses look total- ly different. Luke's Country Store is earthy, rough hewn and pioneer in spirit. The Victorian Card Shop, on the other hand, is almost dainty, refined with English opulence. A trip into the store is like stepping into a nine- teenth century parlour The delicate wallpaper 1s festooned with antique pictures of people from the Port Perry, Ux: bridge. Lindsay area. solemn portraits hung in refurbished gilded frames. Fifty per cent of the photos are original, the others were taken from smaller photo- graphs and blown up. The frames and pic- tures came cheap, but many of them were in pretty sad repair. But Wayne worked on them himself and now they're the hit of the store. 'People are really en- joying the pictures," Carolyn enthuses. Says Wayne, "People are always asking where we got them, if they're our grandparents or relatives or something. Well, they're pretty ac- tive grandparents if they are responsible for the off-spring who claim to be related." Almost everything, ex- cept the stock and the wallpaper, is antique or close to it. The ginger- bread wood work came from a local house, and the old hanging lamps had been around the Luke household for a long time. The stock, of course, is brand new with a full line of Carlton cards and wrapping, as well as an interesting line of gifts of all descriptions. 'But stock aside, the best thing about the store is the store itself, design- ed by Wayne and Carolyn, and built most- ly by Nick Rensink. 'People like to be visually entertained," Wayne explains. 'The store gives the husbands, for example, something to do while their wives are shopping." The Lukes and their children are more than comfortable with their life in Port Perry and Carolyn says 'I couldn't live anywhere else but here Adds Wayne, 'We really feel like we've retired early Lakeshore Landscaping & Property Management SUMMER MAINTENANCE Clean all Lawn Areas Clean all Garden Beds Clean 1 Walkways Patios & Driveways Cultivate & Edge 1 Garden Beds Pruning of trees I shruns under 10 * Lawr CALL GERRY . Garden Fert 12 . 985- 2188 RUST SAVE YOUR BODY VAN CAMP CONTRACTING 1D 90 Vanedward Drive. Port Perry (416) 985-8469 Welcome to the Victorian Card Shop, where proprietors Wayne and Carolyn Luke have done their utmost to present you, the shop- per, with one of the most unique stores in Port Perry. For more on the store and the folks who built it, see story. More than just chicken Scugog Island News by Mrs. Earl Reader For the chicken Bar-b- que at the Scugog Island United Church on Sat. Aug. 3, they have some more goodies promised besides all the food you can eat of chicken, salads, corn on the cob and homemade pies, you may come at any time that is convenient to you starting at 4 30 P.M. un- til all are satisfied But this isn't all, because you will be entertained by various performers while you wait or linger afterwards Just one catch, we ask you to pur- chase or reserve your tickets ahead of time to be assured of plenty of food If you think the price is steep, remember it's for the Building Fund Anyway. vou'll get vour money's worth. no matter how vou look at it So get on that phone soon and call Mary Lang 985-7524 or Pat Taylor 8578 or Bonnie Gerrow 7426 It's later than vou Chesterfield Suites Love Seats Sectionals & Mattresses A Large Selection Less than Lp wed Ay Price! Pv] McKEEN FURNITURE 524 Simcoe StS. Oshawa 125-5181 think. Next week starting Mon. at 9:30 a.m. for on- ly 2 hours, the children 3 to 11 years enjoy Bible School. Here's hoping you have registered your child. Have them bring their friends and neighbours to the Island United Church for fun, music, crafts, games and learning. Tho' children were scarce on Sun at the Island United. the adults always enjoy Rev Robinson's illustrations which prove that we can use the items in our everyday lives if we but look around to prove the worth and purpose for every individual Mrs Marion Hughes is resting comfortably in the Port Perry Hospital and Mrs lenore Blue- PHILIPS "0 0°] man is much improved after her 3 days in hospital. Bonnie Gerrow had an enjoyable weekend at a cottage in Bala last week. Over 30 members of a Young Adult Choir from Parkview Baptist Church in Newport News, Virginia, are on tour thro' Virginia, New Jersy, New York and Canada. After presenta- tions in Niagara Falls, Tauton Red. and Whitby. they will be in Port Perry this Wed. July 24. They will give a mini-concert in Palmer Park at 4p.m and a full concert of solos, ensembles, choir arrangements and pup- pets at the Baptist Church on Highway 7A at 7:30 p.m. Music will in clude selections from "We are the Reason' and 'Celebrate Life with many others "Free-will'" offering at the door ALL TYPES ALL MAKES STEREOS&HI FI'S THIS COUPON WORTH $5.00 OFF YOUR NEXT SERVICE CALL 723-5341 214BLOORST E erving Port Perry & Area tor the past 15 years PARKSIDE STEREO & FACTORY AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTRE FOR PHILIPS RCA 2ENITH TOSHIBA HITACHI (LOYDS MICROWAVE OVEN SERVICE