Dancer’s
107 S Main Street
The Rise
107 South Main Street has been home to a range of retail tenants for generations. One of its earliest, Brumbaugh’s five and dime, opened in the early 1930s before relocating across the street to 106 South Main. Dancer’s Department Store, a regional Michigan retail chain, followed and kept the building active through the 1960s–1970s. Additional tenants continued into the 1990s–2000s, operating in rhythm with the life of the block.
The Fall
In the years that followed, 107 South Main continued to see tenants, but the building began to show the effects of deferred maintenance and aging systems. Its story is not unique to Vicksburg. Across America, regional retail chains that once anchored small-town Main Streets pulled back as commerce shifted to malls and, eventually, online. When those anchors left, the buildings they occupied were rarely replaced with businesses of equal weight. By the time The Mill Group acquired the property, the structure required significant attention to address years of quiet neglect.
The Rejuvenation
The Mill Group has acquired 107 South Main and stabilization work is underway. On the ground floor, we installed a period exhibit highlighting a rare 20-foot mahogany bar with a cherry top and a triple-arched cherry back bar by Kloak Brothers of Cincinnati, dating to around 1900. Period-authentic furnishings and two beautifully restored early 20th-century slot machines complete the display, creating a space that honors the building’s history while awaiting its next chapter.
Visible from the street, a large-format map of the Vicksburg Historic District has been installed in the exterior windows of 107 South Main. Designated in 2022 and encompassing 176 properties, the district includes homes and buildings throughout the Village. If you live in Vicksburg, stop in and take a look. Property owners have access to federal and state resources to help preserve and improve their historic homes. At The Mill Group, saving history is what we do.
Plans for the building are in development and we will share more as our work progresses.
