By: Jim Karshner
The freshly painted mural on the north side of his Rogers City furniture store is a testament to the city’s past – a large king salmon jumping out of the water in the foreground, a limestone carrier in the background.
Salmon fishing reached its zenith 20 years ago – and while one can still catch them in nearby Lake Huron – their sizes and numbers have diminished.
While ships sail in and out of the city’s Port Calcite to load up on limestone, none are domiciled in Rogers City. For years, as many as six of the self-unloaders called Rogers City home. Each ship employed 35 sailors, mostly local residents. It was a nice way to make a middle-class living.
One constant in Rogers City during the past 50 years is Rogers City Home Furnishings and its 72-year-old owner, Larry Bruski. In the summer of 1974, Larry was helping his father, Edward, open a furniture store on Third Street, the main business artery in town. Larry planned to head back to Lansing in the fall; he was enrolled in a hospitality work-study program at Michigan State University.
Just as Rogers City Home Furnishings opened its doors, the A&P Grocery Store down the street announced that it was closing theirs. Ed Bruski owned the soon-to-be-vacant building. He decided to open his own grocery store, leaving Larry to run the furniture store.
It took Larry about five years to find his niche in a competitive market (there was another furniture store in Rogers City and one in Onaway, 22 miles to the west). He focused on high-end merchandise. “There was no future in selling cheap recliners,” he said. “We try to educate our customers on the importance of quality.”
By attending various trade shows in Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, and High Point, North Carolina, Bruski has been able to keep up with the trends in the industry. He joined the Michigan Retailers 40 years ago to take advantage of the credit card, medical insurance, and workers’ compensation programs.
While Rogers City’s population has dropped from 4,275 in 1970 to 2,850 in 2020, many of his customers come from surrounding counties, especially owners of second homes and cottages. “We’ve always offered free delivery.”
He expanded several times along Third Street despite the trend towards online shopping. In 1983, he bought a vacant clothing store next door, knocked down a wall and added a flooring department. Several years later he purchased a store on the other side of his building to add a patio center.
The Revival
Talk to any long-time resident and you’ll hear about the failed attempt at urban renewal in the 1960s. The failure to stimulate commercial redevelopment left several holes in the business district. Current Mayor Scott McLennan had a front row seat to the debacle – his father was a Rogers City councilman who opposed the federally funded program. He was on the short end of the council’s 3-2 vote. (Businessmen such as Ed Bruski were also opposed to the government handout.)
Filling those holes and finding new businesses for vacant store fronts has kept the retired registered nurse busy. When he lived in Boyne City, he saw first-hand the benefits of Michigan’s Main Street program. He was able to spearhead a similar effort in Rogers City. Three years ago the Michigan Economic Development Corp. named it a Michigan Main Street community. The city recently hired Kaelie Fessler as the Main Street executive director.
She’s helping raise local funds to keep the momentum going on Murals on Main Street. “We hope to keep it going for another five years.” Tentative plans call for a business incubator, establishing some new events, and developing an app to identify vacant buildings.
Mayor McLennan has taken a personal interest in one historic building; he purchased the 96-year-old, two-story Brooks Hotel which has sat empty for decades. His initial plans were to turn it into a brewpub with food and live entertainment. With the pandemic and building costs doubling, he’s working on Plan B.
His business partner? It’s Larry Bruski. “Larry has always been supportive of this community,” said the Mayor. “We both want to see this city make a comeback and prosper. And we want to make this project viable. The city needs it.”
