Murphy – The personalities of some folks is evident by their surroundings. It’s true with Jan and Tim Dockery, owners of Jan’s Needful Things, a fun and unique downtown shop offering more than meets the eye.
The popular store known for such items as soda can safes, stinky candles, knives, mood rings and hats with attached hair has closed, as the Dockerys are ready to enjoy retirement. They also owned another store at a different location for five years.
Upon entering their established, one may have gotten the feelings of returning back to childhood with all of its colorful and whimsical play things. The temptation to touch the many shop items was ever present bringing back memories of childlike fun with no cares, if at least for that moment in time.
The Dockerys initially purchased items from other stores going out of business in order to build their inventory before they started ordering wholesale based on what the customers liked. They sold Christmas ornaments year-round and their biggest-selling items were figures called Furrybones.
Jan was born in Niagara Falls, N.Y., in 1960. Tim, a native of Murphy, was born in 1958 and grew up in Hanging Dog. Each attended Tri-County Community College – Jan for real estate, Tim for electronics repair.
They met in 1977 over the air while talking on a CB radio. They would communicate for a couple of weeks before meeting one another in person.
His radio handle was Bushwhacker, while she went by the name Yankee. The pair have been married for 47 years.
Jan worked at the old Sky City store, while Tim has been self-employed, with the exception of a year in which he worked at McRae Music Store. He has owned a self-storage business for 25 years as well as Timco Towing in Hanging Dog for 34 years.
The pair were the last Dockerys to work at Dockery’s Store in Hanging Dog. Their future hopes are to spend half of their time in Cherokee County and the other half in Florida.
Tim’s hobbies have included flying small planes, welding, making signs and off-roading. Jan’s favorite color is cobalt blue, while Tim’s are red, white and blue.
They have two beloved dogs, Bella and Cujo. Bella “sings” on demand, while Cujo bites.
About retirement, “ We’re happy about it cause we’re wanting to do things on the weekends and we were always tied up in the shop. We’re gonna miss customers, some were like family to us,” Jan said.
Jan added that the new owner plans to rent the space out for a few years before turning it into an antique store.