New Downtown Store to Make Old Furniture Fab

Inside the big, pink house on Front Street in New Baltimore, Sandra McClure sits on a black sofa, explaining her plan to convert the front room of the historic house into a business named Re-Hab-u-lous Alley.

“I never in a million years thought I would be doing something like this,” McClure says as she looks around the house her grandparents once owned and where her father spent his childhood.

Six years ago, she bought the house, which is now home to and McClure’s insurance agency.

By the end of August, the New Baltimore resident will be ready to unveil Re-Hab-u-lous Alley, an eclectic furniture store with a laid-back atmosphere featuring “new and reclaimed cool stuff at reasonable prices.”

Although an opening date hasn’t been set, the showroom will soon be filled with what the owner described as “a mix of eclectic-chic and rustic-chic” home goods and furniture.

While new items will be for sale, McClure also refurbishes many pieces found in the store.

“(I get) any type of furniture that catches my eye,” she said. “This furniture is going to be really cool. I have pieces that are unfinished, too, so people can pick them out and choose what color they want.”

Visitors can also bring in furniture to be painted or restored.

“The good thing about a lot of this stuff is that it’s made in America,” she said. “This stuff is made really well.”

McClure plans to welcome visitors to the shop with snacks and refreshments to celebrate the store’s grand opening at an undetermined date.

The store’s name is inspired from an alley on the side of the house and McClure’s idea of turning home goods and furniture into fabulously refurbished one-of-a-kind pieces.

Turning hobby into store

McClure put her business plan in action after receiving some helpful tips and tricks of the trade from the owner of a nearby furniture store.

“I became really interested over the past few years in what she was doing,” McClure explained. “When she offered me that, I was like, ‘well, how can I turn that down?’ because I love this stuff.”

Before she started working on Re-Hab-u-lous Alley, McClure worked in the insurance industry for 25 years, dealing primarily with health insurance and workers’ compensation. She started an insurance agency in New Baltimore 14 years ago, which she runs out of the same house on Front Street.

“I love (the idea for the store) and I needed to take a break from the stress of health insurance,” she said, adding that she hopes to keep the new business a relaxed and stress-free environment.

Joined by friends and family, McClure said she’s making the best of time spent getting things ready for the store’s grand opening.

“In getting things going, I’ve had a lot of help from my husband, Tim, my mom, Judy Spiekhout, and my best friend growing up, Patrice (TC) Rener,” she said. “It’s been fun getting this all up and going.”

Bringing in business, giving back to community

McClure hopes her store will help attract visitors to the downtown area.

“I hope it’ll give them a cool place to shop and I hope it will bring people in from other areas,” she said. “I actually have talked to a couple of the other stores in town about doing combined advertising because I think that people will come from other areas if they have multiple places to stop.”

McClure’s ties to the city give her a good reason to want to help make it a great place to live. Both of her parents grew up in New Baltimore and she is a lifelong city resident. Today, she lives in the city with her husband and 9-year-old son.

“When I was a kid growing up here, downtown New Baltimore was where you shopped,” she added. “It was a great town, and that’s what I want it to be for other people who live here.”

McClure is active in organizing a variety of community events and activities. She serves as chairwoman of Ride the Wave, a nonprofit organization that she and a few others put together. She helps with the and organizes the popular event “”

“The reason Ride the Wave started was to give back to the community in bad times and to give them a cheap or free night out,” she noted.

Re-Hab-u-lous Alley is at 36341 Front St. and will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The store will be closed Monday and Tuesday.

For more information, visit rehabulousalley.com or call 586-306-2883.