THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609250130
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN SANTOS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 66 lines
Walking through the door of Dokie's furniture store is like stepping back in time to a great-grandmother's parlor.
Squatty embossed wooden chairs covered with satin fabric charm one area. But round a corner and there's an elegant white-washed dining suite, with a thick beveled-glass china cabinet that would complement any airy, modern home.
Owners, Dee, better known as ``Dokie,'' and Herb Knieper have turned a former Be-Lo market at the corner of Campostella Road and Battlefield Boulevard into what they like to call ``three businesses in one.''
Looking for custom furnishings? Need something refinished? In the market for antiques or hand-painted furniture? You can find it at Dokie's.
``The love of antiques and my background in interior design made me want to open a store,'' Dokie said. ``The refinishing work is like therapy to me.
``I'm not in this to get rich. I feel like this is my ministry to people. Being able to offer good quality and prices makes me feel good. My honesty and integrity are at stake.
``When customers indicate they didn't know what our store was like, I joke with them and tell them we are the best-kept secret in Tidewater, I want that to change, so tell all your friends.''
It's only 10 a.m., and Dokie, clad in jeans and a T-shirt with refinishing stains on her hands and an employee's baby on her hip, has been at work for five hours. If she is not up by 4:30 a.m. for prayer time, she has overslept.
Herb, who sang with the Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta Company in New York City in the late 1930s, stops singing abruptly when Dokie peers over her glasses at him. After 42 years of marriage, he knows the meaning of her glare.
One recent Saturday, a customer carted in a few small drawers from an old sewing machine cabinet and wanted to sell them for gas money to get to work the next day.
He left with the money, and Dokie's imagination went wild with what she could build with the drawers - a card file cabinet, a sewing chest. She knew they would find another purpose. But, she says, ``what mattered the most was that the gentleman would have gas.''
The ``best-kept secret in Tidewater'' has been around since 1990. Originally, it was across the street in a former Kinney Shoe store. About a year ago, Dokie decided it was time to find a larger place for her growing inventory. Just as her lease ran out, the Be-Lo location became available.
Her family chipped in to help and the work began. Cleaning, tearing up layers of old floors, painting, building walls, hanging wallpaper and arranging furniture.
The usual 14- to 16-hour work days turned into an around-the-clock venture.
One month later, the grand opening was held. That was last October.
``With the diversity and uniqueness of our store, I feel like we have something to offer everyone,'' Dokie says. ``We offer the old and the new.''
``Dealing with numerous manufacturer's allows me to offer variety,'' she said. ``I enjoy going to estate sales for antiques. Occasionally, I buy them from individuals. Things change in the store from one day to the next.''
One day there's an antique roll-top desk tucked into a corner. Come back another day and you will find a Queen Anne living room suite displayed.
On this day, a sofa table, lamps, and an ottoman coordinated with a rich colorful plaid couch and overstuffed chair fill one cubicle, giving a feel of warmth and comfort as scents of cedar escape from a nearby wardrobe.
Dokie is discussing repairing and refinishing an antique bed and wardrobe with a customer as four employees load a delivery truck.
A salesperson walks in with upholstery samples and catalogs as new furniture is arriving at the loading dock.
Dokie yells to Herb for help.
``Everything happens at once,'' she says. Especially when you have ``three stores in one.'' by CNB