Historic Bradenton business closes doors for good. It was emotional day for all involved

Halloween is supposed to be a day reserved for fright, but for the owner of Keeton’s Office and Art Supplies, as well as for long-time employees, it was a day of mixed emotions.

Keeton’s has been a name associated with office furniture and supplies in downtown Bradenton since 1951 and though the name still temporarily appears on the building at 814 Manatee Ave. W., the sign on the door welcomes customers to Apex Office Products of Tampa.

William Keeton opened the business in 1951. In 1980, his son-in-law Brice Hoopingarner took over and kept it running and growing for another four decades.

Thursday was a “bittersweet” day, Hoopingarner said. “It’s been a great ride. It’s emotional for me and my staff, one who has been with me for 39 years and another for 30 years. You don’t see that kind of employee dedication anymore and it’s because we became a family. I’ve seen their children grow up. We aren’t like a family. We are a family.”

When Hoopingarner announced the sale of the business to Apex in June, plans were in place to keep the art supply and art studio open. But Thursday was the final day for that part of the business, too.

Hoopingarner said art was never his expertise and that he relied on staff to grow that part of business, ”and they did a great job. My manager was the face of that part of it and he has decided to take another opportunity and I fully support that decision. My long-time clerk also is taking another opportunity and I support that, as well.”

Hoopingarner said with peak season for the art studio here, and no one to run it, it would take too long to hire and train staff to keep it open.

“I was going to try and keep it but the way things worked out, it was just time to fully retire,” Hoopingarner said.

Hoopingarner owns the building and Apex is under lease. Apex plans to keep the office furniture showroom to display product but will close the office supplies section of the building and essentially go to online sales through an Apex account.

The art studio was never part of the lease agreement, so Hoopingarner said that space is “to be determined.”

The entire building is for sale, but a potential buyer would have to honor the current lease agreement with Apex. The space leased by the Tampa company makes up a small percentage of the entire building.

Hoopingarner said a significant clearance liquidation sale will begin in the coming days. The store will reopen for as long as it takes to sell off the current inventory, including fixtures.

Joey Long has been at the store for 30 years along with one of her coworkers, Sue Wotherspoon, who is just a few months shy of her 40th year with Keeton’s. It’s not just a family environment between employees, they said. It’s a family relationship with long-time customers and the community, too.

“Our customers are wonderful people,” Long said. “I’ve met so many new friends over the years. If you want to know the truth, I thought I’d be here until the day I die. I feel like crying.”

Wotherspoon said Keeton’s is and always has been about the level of customer service you would expect from a business that has been around since the 1950s.

“We offer that personal touch,” Wotherspoon said. “Even though you can order a lot of these supplies online, people still want to come in.”

The transition from Keeton’s to Apex is officially underway, but Apex’s lease doesn’t begin until Jan. 1.

“After that, I may learn to play golf, do some camping and see the United States,” Hoopingarner said. “My wife and I like the same things like visiting museums and seeing points of interest. I don’t really have a need to travel outside of the U.S. I want to see the U.S. I’ve always worked so now we have that opportunity.”

One important transition in the retirement process awaits him.

“My wife has had a fixed routine around the house for some time,” he said with a laugh. “She has a process and I respect that, so the biggest thing I need to learn is how to best stay out of her way and try to keep busy. It’s a good thing I have such a good and strong marriage.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 12:31 PM.