Columbus is home to a lot of history and beautiful buildings, but also to potential. It’s part of why John Klosterman opened The Southern Exchange Antiques Shop downtown last April.
At the Rotary Club of Columbus’ Tuesday meeting, Klosterman spoke with members about that potential, including opportunities for growth and expansion he sees in the city.
“We have the infrastructure. We have the buildings. We have the people,” Klosterman said during the meeting at Lion Hills Center. “All we have to do is keep working at it a little bit more. … I just see so much potential, and I have fallen in love with it, and so I invested in it.”
Klosterman grew up and still has a home in Mobile, Alabama where he owned his own catering business. But Klosterman had to put catering work on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead, Klosterman started working in a consignment shop with a friend in Fairhope, Alabama. This experience sparked his idea to open The Southern Exchange Antiques Shop with Billy Cox on Main Street.
“When I bought my house here, I had to quit there, and I was doing my catering full force again, and I said, ‘This would be perfect for Columbus,’” Klosterman said. “… You can get these wonderful items, and the prices are a lot better than the brand new things and the high-end antique shops.”
Klosterman was also looking to live in a historic antebellum-style home and found what he was looking for in Columbus.
Klosterman owns the Ridge House, originally built in 1819 and moved twice in 1840 and 1972, and he has previously shown the house during Spring Pilgrimage season.
“I wanted an old antebellum home, and Mississippi had some great deals, and I came up here, I fell in love with the house, and then I fell in love with the city,” Klosterman said.
The city also has some very friendly people that he continues to enjoy interacting with since developing his home in the area, Klosterman said.
“It is the Friendly City, and I’ll say that it is true,” he said. “And I have met some of the kindest people here from all walks of life, from educators to blue-collar workers. It’s been a really good experience.”
Klosterman cares about historical items and wants to help connect others who are looking for resources to restore and maintain their historic pieces of furniture or older homes.
“We have specialists in town who are connected with us, and we don’t do the restoration, but we have them connected,” Klosterman said. “What we’re trying to do is, we’re trying to be a resource for people who want to restore homes or restore furniture or lighting.”
Rotary Club of Columbus President Jason Dunn had not met Klosterman before Tuesday’s meeting but was excited by the aspirations he brought forward.
“I’ve heard a lot about him, very happy to have him here in town,” Dunn said. “… (I’m) hoping that this starts the process of dominoes falling, attracting more businesses similar to his to the Columbus area.”
After living here for 21 years Dunn also believes that there is a lot of potential for growth in Columbus.
“I think Columbus is ripe for successful businesses to join in,” Dunn said. “So I hope to see an explosion downtown.”
While Klosterman still splits his time between Columbus and Alabama, the divide is shrinking the more time he spends in Columbus, he said.
“I love Columbus,” Klosterman said. “Mobile’s still home, it always will be, but Columbus is where I’m kind of putting my roots down permanently.”
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