BELLE FOURCHE—One refurbished building housing two new stores opened on State Street in downtown Belle on July 1. Pearson Block Hous Vintage and Modern and Pearson Block Candy Shop are now open!
The new venture of Jenny and Zach Gaaskjolen and family brings a longtime dream and a brand new vision to life. “The furniture thing has been a dream of mine forever and ever,” explained Jenny. “We were trying to think of what people we could contact that would be a good business for the other side and recruit somebody to rent it. And then we just decided, well, let’s just do our own thing! And he (Zach) decided to do a candy shop!”
While doing research about the building, the business name came to them. “It was fun to read up on the history of the building and that John Pearson built it in 1909. First he built the Pearson Opera House which is now the Belle Theater,” explained Jenny. “And then he built this in 1909 and we saw some old pictures and it had a Pearson Block sign on the top of the building and I’m like, okay, that makes it easy to pick a name!”
Jenny is no stranger to Belle Fourche. She grew up in Spearfish but spent much of her time in Belle Fourche at her aunt and uncle’s house—Nancy and Doug Cole. “I grew up going to Belle for all of the Fourth of July events at Doug and Nancy’s house, my aunt and uncle, and so I’ve always loved Belle Fourche,” she shared. “I feel like I’m pretty close with my Aunt Nancy and I just loved her old house there, I don’t know, I probably have Belle Fourche up on a pedestal because she lived there! And then when we would go stay with her, we would go to the Rec Center and go get ice cream and we just think it’s such a cool community!”
An appreciation for older solid decor drives Jenny’s passion. “We have such a throw away culture now. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents—who were raised during the Depression—they just saved everything! I have a little that in me,” said Jenny.
Taking existing pieces and putting her own spin on them to give them a new life is part of what Jenny does. “I do upholstery. I’ve done a lot of the up-cycled things—I really like the idea of your home telling a story—not just being some canned decor that you can get from made in China kind of thing,” she explained. “I really love fabric! I love just taking old stuff and re-doing the fabric. I also have some wood items, like dressers and those kind of things. I just love mixing that modern vintage kind of flair!”
As for the Candy Shop, the plan is to have all kinds of candy, from old fashioned to modern and even specialty candies. Giant glass candy jars line the shelves and decorate the room with bright colors and sweet smells. The sugary treats will be sold in bulk—the kind of candy shop where you load candy into bags by the scoopful! This is where Zach and Jenny’s three children get to share their expertise in the sweets business. “It’s going to be a good mix of everything. We have some good little shoppers—candy eaters—that we get our input from,” said Jenny. “It’s things you can’t find at your regular store. We have bulk sales and then things like giant gummy bears and candy cigarettes—specialty items.”
For now, the family will run both businesses and figure out things as they go. They really wanted to be open by the 4th of July. “Our big push was for the 4th—you just can’t beat the 4th of July in Belle Fourche—our big push was to be open by then, and then in the next couple months after that, we’ll schedule a grand opening and fine-tune it a little bit,” said Jenny.
The upstairs of the building has three apartments that the family is in the process of renovating. At some point they will be open for short-term or long-term rentals. Jenny shared, “There are three units up there, one is finished and two need to be renovated. There are just some repairs that we want to get done before we rent that out.”
Both stores will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on July 1, 2, 3 and 5. They will open for regular hours beginning the week of July 14. Watch their website pearsonblock.com for updates.
Zach and Jenny are excited to be on State Street in downtown Belle Fourche. “We feel super welcomed already! People have stopped in or stopped us on the street and said ‘Welcome to Belle Fourche, we are happy you’re here!’”
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
