Beloved downtown shop’s new owner is keeping the ‘sass’

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It was a fast romance.

Van Fleet, a former stay-at-home mom and community volunteer, started working at the shop in December.

She bought it in February.

"(Co-owner Josh Stucky) told me they were thinking about it, and I said 'hmmmmm,'" Van Fleet recalled.

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The stars aligned.

Van Fleet had spent about a decade thinking about opening her own store.

“It just seemed fun. I love downtown. I love the vibe in here (Agnes & Orson),” she said. “It’s what I like. It is why I wanted to work here. There are nice gifts for just about anybody, including your dog. There are candles and sassy cards.”

Van Fleet has made only a handful of changes since buying the business Stucky, Misty Wells and Canaan Good opened in 2015 at 1132 Brown St.

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Citing the need for more room due to the shop’s growth, the trio moved the store to its current location in early 2017.

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Over time, Wells said running the store became too time consuming.

“We needed quality of life again,” she said. “We had so many things going on in our lives that we could not devote the time that the store needed.”

Wells said she and Good were stretched working on the store and Square One. Stucky is involved in numerous community boards and organizations.

“It opened our eyes to a lot of new things,” she said of running a retail store. “It is a baby that needs to be nurtured.”

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With her two adults now out of the house, Van Fleet said she has time to devote to Agnes & Orson.

The shop carries several locally produced items including jewelry, artwork, Lindy’s Bakery dog treats and well as items that promote inclusion of people from the LGBT community such as whimsical T-shirts, glasses and mugs.

“It’s a fun shop. It has a lot of stuff. It is always changing,” she said.

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