Jae-Mar Brass and Lamp Company is located at 102 Barnhardt Street, at the railroad tracks just off of South Elm Street. This local company has been in business since 1983. They repair, clean, and refinish brass pieces and rewire lamps. Jar-Mar is one of those businesses that thrives by word-of-mouth. People come from throughout the State to this unique shop with the low Internet profile. They also have been around long enough to witness the drying up and resurgence of small, privately-owned specialty businesses.

Since Jae-Mar has been in their current location, they have seen Barnhardt Street improve tremendously, getting many new businesses and a big parking lot connecting Lewis Street. This new development has brought considerable foot traffic to the area. If you peek in the window, the owners, the Forsters seem to be hard at work. If you know how they got their name, please let us know. We forgot to ask last time we used their services. Maybe O. Henry Magazine or some other form of local media will do a segment on this homegrown business.

Today is ABC Wednesday and for our ABC Alphabet Series, “J” is for Jae-Mar.