The Loy Years

In our last blog we talked about all the changes that happened to the building during the turn of the century. The building remained under the ownership of the Wachs until 1958, when Wachs sold the business to Mr. Loy, who continued to operate it as a variety store. It was simply named "Loy's store".

If any current residents of Gibson remember anything about this building, it is more than likely when it was the Loy’s Store. In fact, most still call the building the “Loy’s Building”. They don’t remember it being anything else. They fondly remember buying candy out of glass jars and having the store clerks carefully weigh it. Loy’s sold everything from candy to fabric to dishes and hardware. Many young kids remember “Sandy” the horse – the mechanical horse at Loy’s which gave them their first horseback ride. It was a fun and magical childhood experience for many local residents.

Mr. Loy operated several other stores in the area, including one in Lacon and one in Fairbury. This would be his third variety store.

An article in The Courier from February 6, 1958 states that Loy "recently had bought the Auterman Hardware building which joins the Wachs store to the North. Loy said he plans to make two doorways between the two buildings." The second floor remained as the Masonic Hall.

Loy's enjoyed a long and prosperous run in Gibson City until 1987. Like most variety stores during the 1970s and 1980s, Loy’s saw it’s business taper off. This was due to changes in shopping patterns and new forms of retailing. Variety stores across the United States faced the same demise. Large shopping malls and specialty shops took business away from these ‘main street’ variety stores. Shoe stores took away their shoe business, department stores took away their clothing business, fabric stores took away their fabric and notions business, etc. And with the creation of large shopping malls, shoppers could get everything they needed with one trip to the 'mall'. Variety stores could no longer compete on price or selection. Sadly, on January 10, 1987, Loy’s closed its doors for the final time.

After Loy’s, the first floor changed to KAS Variety Store (1988-1990) and later to Dollar General (1992-1994). The location has most recently been home to specialty stores including The Silver Lion Antiques (1996 - 2001), Avalon Tea Garden (2001), Shirley Duncan Real Estate (2002-2004) and The Store (2016-2018).

The second floor was briefly the site of Gibson Library Association. Other groups and businesses located on the upper floor including Knights of Pythias Hall (1926-1929), USDA Soil Conservation Service (1944), dentist W. W. Templeton (1947), and the Gibson Masonic Temple and Order of the Eastern Star (1926-1983).

The grand building now sits closed up, the first floor still filled with items from the days when it was a resale store in 2018 and the second floor mostly empty - a relic of what it once was. In 2019, a group of concerned citizens formed the Gibson City Restoration Association with its mission to restore historical buildings in the City of Gibson, starting with the Burwell Building (Loy's Building). At our May 18th Board meeting, we voted to purchase the Burwell Buidling. The 'ole girl may shine once again!

Check back soon to hear about all the work we have ahead of us. There is much to do to bring this building back to its original glory and we will need all the help we can get!