After 130 years, Glesnes are saying goodbye to Coast to Coast
Longtime employee Sharon Bahls and store owners Maury and Linda Glesne pose for a photo in Coast to Coast for what could be the last time. After 130 years in the Glesne family name, the 201 N. Main St. location will have new owners as of March 1.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The 130-year Glesne family history at Elkader’s 201 N. Main St., began in 1891, when a fire destroyed the property that had occupied the lot. Ole Glesne, the man who started it all, purchased the burned-out lot and built a new brick mercantile business there. By the turn of the century, the family name became a staple within the community.
Since then, the business has been handed down from father to son, brother to brother, eventually being transformed into Coast to Coast in 1935, when Melvin Glesne inherited the store. The story behind the transition from the family name to a general merchandise franchise, as Melvin’s son and current owner Maury told it, “is because [Melvin’s] friends had a Coast to Coast in Decorah and talked him into opening a hardware store.”
Over the years, the store known as Coast to Coast has provided more than simple hardware, selling a variety of things, including sporting goods and automotive equipment, outdoor gear and housewares, guns and an assortment of other odds and ends, all to accommodate a diverse customer base. It’s matured with the times, fighting off the competition from the big box stores and surviving thanks to the location, affordability of goods and exceptional customer service.
Something else has changed over the years, beyond what’s on the store shelves and in the advertisements: ownership. And that’s where this story leaves its deepest impression. It’s where Maury’s time as owner begins and the story of the Glesnes at 201 N. Main sadly ends.
Maury joined the family business in 1973, after earning a degree in business and accounting from Upper Iowa University. Maury had a calling and he followed it.
“I grew up in the business. I always wanted to be in it…to follow in the footsteps of the family tradition,” Maury said.
The early years were admittedly difficult, never knowing if the store would sell enough to keep the lights on. Being “the man in charge, rather than working for a paycheck” is always a challenging experience, but Maury was confident in his abilities to run the store. After all, he had an ancestry full of examples from which to learn.
He’s also had a helping hand from his wife Linda. Although she never actually worked in the store, rather working for 47 years at Central State Bank, she oversaw all the store’s paperwork. Even as the decades changed and paperwork transitioned into computers, Linda was there, trying to help Coast to Coast adapt.
One thing that hasn’t changed since 1975, when Maury became the sole owner, is what Linda said is the “good inventory, good service and Maury’s abilities as a salesman.”
It’s also the personal connections that helped keep the store open: customers coming in to share their fishing and hunting stories, or simply to have coffee and a conversation.
According to devoted longtime employ Sharon Bahls, “customers also admire the older, trapped-in-time look of the store.”
Beyond that, Maury’s dedication to the store is immeasurable, as Linda recounted numerous times someone would phone after hours or when the store was closed in need of something and Maury would be there.
“If somebody ever needed something, he would go,” Linda said.
But on March 1, Maury will no longer have calls to answer or a store to go to. After surviving the ebbs and flows of history and decades of change, it could not survive a family tragedy. The decision to sell is not cloaked in deep mystery, and people close to the Glesnes fully appreciate the sensitive nature of the reason behind it, because it involves loss.
On April 20, 2018, the Glesne’s son Michael tragically passed away, and with him so did the future of Coast to Coast occupying that sacred spot on 201 N. Main.
“The decision was not easy. The future plans were for the store to stay in the family name,” Linda explained. “The past nearly three years have not been easy…We wanted a Glesne, but no one is interested.”
Maury emphatically added, “We are not getting out of business due to financial reasons.” Although age would have effectively led to retirement anyway, the main impetus behind the decision remains the death of Michael, which sped up the selling process.
That process began early last year, when Kathleen and Mike McShane were in the area and heard through the grapevine that Maury might be willing to sell. In early December, after several conversations with the McShanes, mulling over the offer and agonizing about the decision, Maury finally decided it was time. After 130 years, a family legacy will come to an end.
The McShanes’ business, GEAR Elkader, will open at the Coast to Coast location this spring.
Asked if he will have regrets, Maury said, “probably, but I’m hoping not too many.”
However, don’t call it a full-on retirement for Maury. He insisted that, even though the store is sold, he is “not retiring,” though he has no definite plans outside the possibility of continuing to sell firearms, doing gun shows and, of course, doing more hunting, fishing and traveling.
“It will be interesting to see how I react. The store has been a part of me my whole life…but I’ve been so busy I haven’t really had time to think about it,” Maury said.
During the interview, customer Caleb Cummer stopped to talk to Maury about the store and the closing.
“It’s one of my favorite businesses to visit. I will miss it,” he said, summing up the overwhelming sentiment of the Elkader community at large.
When asked what she will miss, Linda provided a moment of levity. “I will miss him being at the store,” she joked about her husband.
Now, the 130-year Glesne family history at 201 N. Main will find its way into departed memories and the passage of time.
As Maury said, “It’s never going to be the same.”
