The Board of Et Cetera Shop, Inc., invites the public to an open house at the Peerless Glove Factory, 327 N. Main St., Bluffton, on Friday, April 20, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
"Come and get a look at the old glove factory before it becomes the new location of the local Et Cetera Shop," said Arman Habegger, Et Cetera board chair.
"Renovation will not yet have begun, but we will have some illustrations of how the new store may appear. Some of you may have photos from the building’s earlier operation as a glove factory, and we would welcome seeing those."
Light refreshments will be provided, and the board welcomes any donations persons may wish to provide for the renovation.
"We hope you will want to come and see how we plan to turn an historical site into a new store for downtown Bluffton," said Habegger.
Background on the purchase
The Et Cetera Shop, Inc., which operates the Et Cetera Shop, Book ReViews, and Ten Thousand Villages, purchase of the Peerless Glove Factory building in January.
“After some extensive renovation, the Et Cetera Shop retail store will move to the new location that will provide it significantly more space for its operation and may allow for expanded retail offerings,” he said.
The Et Cetera Shop is one of a number of thrift stores that operate across the United States as an arm of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). These stores accept donations of clothing and apparel, housewares, and other items, sells these goods to the public, and after taking out operating expenses, donates much of its net income to MCC and, in some cases, to a local charity as well.
The Et Cetera Shop, Inc., currently owns half the shares of the 111 S Main St., building where it operates the thrift store and Ten Thousand Villages.
Now, after several years of searching and considering other options, the factory property became available, enabling the corporation to be the owner of a building that will more than double the available space for processing and retail sales.
Renovation of the new location will likely take at least 12 months.
The Et Cetera Shop, Inc., has operated under the sponsorship of seven churches in the greater Bluffon-Pandora-Lima area for 42 years.
Boss Glove Factory
1907 – 1956
The Boss Glove Co., started in 1907 and ceasing operations in Bluffton in 1956, manufactured gloves and mittens of many kinds and for many uses.
From 1907 to approximately 1928 production of mittens used for jerking corn made up the entire output of the company.
Starting in 1926 the company expanded into production of all kinds of gloves and mittens, which were shipped all over the country. The company employed between 50 and 100 persons. The manufacturing process using machine operations did not change much during production from the company’s beginning.
The company turned out approximately 200,000 dozen pairs of gloves a year at its height of production.
Peerless Glove
The company then became Peerless Glove. Roger Hoffman was the plant manager from 1973 to 2014.
The Icon interviewed Hoffman in in 2014. Here's what he said:
“Many of Bluffton’s moms, grandmas or great-grandmas worked here until 1988. It’s been a long ride from its beginnings as the best manufactured cotton gloves in the country from 1956 to 1988. It’s now the main distribution center for gloves and safety supplies for General Motors Corp.
Adding: “And, until lately, it served as the warehouse and distribution center for a corporation that carried pandemic emergency inventory supplies.”
Choctaw-Kabul Distribution Co., Detroit, owned Peerless Ohio Glove Co.
