Miranda Adkins | So Salem

Lonna Carter (left) and Linda Wheeling at their Salem business.

Long-time best friends Linda Wheeling and Lonna Carter never imagined the fulfillment they would gain from opening Mae Belle's Kottage, their country/primitive gift shop in Salem. Their love of shopping in such stores kindled a dream of having a shop of their own. Then empty-nest syndrome set in and helped the dream along.

Both women have three children, and in less than two years, four of those children married -- and all six are now out of the house leading lives of their own.

Wheeling's recent retirement from the city of Salem Water Department after 33 years of service left her with extra time on her hands and further fueled the fire towards making their dream a reality.

With the support of their loving husbands, the women bought the former "Country Charm" building on 4th Street in Salem and started traveling to the country/primitive buyers' markets to establish their inventory. And in April 2007 they opened their shop, naming it Mae Belle's Kottage after the nicnames they had affectionately given each other years before -- Linda Mae and Lonna Belle.

The pair assumed that their new undertaking would be like running any other store, where the main goal would be to sell their products. They soon realized they were wrong an ddiscovered that what they liked best about their shop was not being surrounded by and selling gifts that they loved; instead, they found joy in meeting and getting to know their customers.

"The people that come into our store are all so interesting," Carter said. "Customers say they love the simple down-home atmosphere and smells that the store offers and feel comfortable in here because they were not shopping in such a commercialized store."

Customers come in, just looking for the right piece to accent their home, and they start sharing ideas and thoughts that so many times lead to a personal story about their friends or family.

"Some people will share so many of their stories with just a little encouragement," Carter said. One of their favorite customers has a husband who is suffering with Alzheimer's. She shared with Carter and Wheeling all about their life together in happier days when he was himself. She told them that she liked coming to Mae Belle's because it is such a cheerful place and that just being able to get out and have someone to listen to her made her days happier.

Another lady who had recently lost her mother sat in Mae Belle's and told them about her loss. As she cried, they teared up with her. A woman who had lost her child shared her story, and again, tears were flowing all around.

Not all the stories the customers share are sad. There are also many happy stories of friendships, births, weddings, children, and days gone by -- and there are plenty of pictures to accompany those stories.

Naturally, some of Mae Belle's patrons prefer to keep their stories to themselves, and Linda and Lonna respect that. They have grown to think of their customers as friends, whether they talk about their personal lives or not.

"These days, people are spending their money on gas and food instead of trinkets for their homes," Carter said. "But it's not about that. These wonderful people sharing their stories with us have become what our store really is all about."