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Home and decor business Sterling Avenue opens in its new downtown location at 300 West Main Street in Salem on Saturday.

Paul and Lynn Riehm have spent the past three months since buying the building from Leon Chapman extensively renovating the structure.

Sterling Avenue owners Lynn and Paul Riehm. Photo by Bruce Kropp.

“Basically, when we first got the building, there were pretty much just the four interior walls,” Paul said. “Then from there we redid the flooring, added walls, added an office, added storage in the back, finished off the ceiling and updated lighting. We stained the floors, added a kitchen area, and updated the window areas.”

Lynn added, “On the outside, we painted and redid the frames on the windows and the awning and cedar posts on the outside, to give it a little more character. Then we brought the cedar accents inside too.”

The store has 4,000 square feet compared to its old location in the Westgate Shopping area that had 3,000 square feet.

“We have a lot of décor items, and a lot of things for the home like candles, pillows, rugs and decorations,” Lynn said. “Some accent piece furniture. We have basically anything for the home, a lot of kitchen items. When I laid out the store here, one side is all living, and the other side is more kitchen.”

More items on display in Sterling Avenue. Photo by Bruce Kropp.

The Riehm’s have not yet decided what to do with the larger adjoining building that had 5,000 square feet on both the first and second story.  She says it could be an expansion of Sterling Avenue or could even be rented for use of another business.

They say the biggest advantage over their old location is the larger traffic flow on US 50.   The old store was hidden behind the Driver’s License facility.

Sterling Avenue officially opens Saturday with hours of ten to two.  The store will also be open from 10 am to 5:30 pm Tuesday through Friday.

New Sterling Avenue location at 300 West Main Street in Salem. Photo by Bruce Kropp.