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This is one of a series of stories on Hastings entrepreneurs that recently appeared in the Hastings Tribune. Thanks to the Tribune for allowing us to share these stories on TheHWord.com!

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Young Retailer Brings Upbeat Attitude to Two Downtown Stores

By Will Vraspir
(Story & Photo Courtesy Hastings Tribune)

Love for the retail environment has helped Jason Schreiner become successful in recent business ventures, including the purchase of one shop and the start of a completely new company.

Although he went to college to study finance and economics, Schreiner said it was his part-time job at a retail clothing outlet that really caught his attention.

“It’s something that I was fairly successful with and I enjoy it,” he said. “When I started in retail, I worked on the sales floor and always had a good time with that. I’ve always enjoyed the people I’ve worked with. That’s probably the part I enjoy most.”

Jason Schreiner at Climate, a retail clothing store in downtown Hastings.

Out of college, Schreiner continued working in retail clothing and accepted a management position, which led to a job buying for the company. About 12 years ago, Schreiner said he and his wife, Alexandria, wanted to move closer to home and he started working for The Buckle corporate offices in Kearney.

A few years ago, the couple moved to the area and Jason started looking for the possibility of starting a business. In 2007, they bought Hometown Variety and Crafts, 620 W. Second St., from Jim Guthman.

“I looked around at some different things and the opportunity just presented itself in the summer of 2007,” he said. “They had what I think was a nice team in place and we retained the manager and some of the team that Jim had working there. It seemed like a well-run organization and something Jim had set up for a nice transition.”

The previous success of the business made it much easier for Schreiner to obtain a loan for the business. “Our bank was more than willing to work with us,” he said. “It certainly helps when a business has been around for 30 years. I would think they looked at it as a little bit safer investment just because it had some stability.”

Schreiner said one of the challenges was learning a new type of product, since his experience had been in clothing. The team that had been working at the store was able to help Schreiner learn about the new products. In addition to teaching him, Schreiner has found himself relying on the employees for product information.

“Part of the appeal to me was that people who had worked in the store for that long wanted to stay at the store,” he said. “I don’t know that we would have done it if they would have packed up and left. It’s been nice to have somebody you can trust to do that kind of work when you’re coming into a new situation like that.”

Store manager Bonnie Roberts said she was worried about the possibility of losing her job when Guthman retired and sold the store to Schreiner. “I was very apprehensive,” she said. “I’d been working here for 24 years and I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

Three years later, Roberts said she is glad Schreiner took over the store. Though he was mostly involved in clothing retail outlets, Roberts said Schreiner had a plan for how he wanted to present the store in its new location. “He did keep things pretty much on the same keel as we had before,” she said. “I did give a little push here and a little push there.”

Roberts said Schreiner has been a good fit for the store as owner. “He is an upbeat person with great ideas,” she said. “If I have something new I want to try, I run it by him, but basically the everyday running of the store is the same.”

But Schreiner wasn’t done. He recently opened Climate — a retail clothing store — at 537 W. Second St. No. 102. At the time they purchased Hometown Variety, Schreiner said there were a good number of clothing outlets in Hastings, but that number has dwindled over the years.

“We think we have some good stores in town,” he said. “We just felt we needed a little more variety for people in Hastings so they didn’t have to travel to Grand Island, Lincoln or whatever.”

Schreiner has been trying to operate the two businesses in downtown Hastings, which has made his home life more complex.

While offering more freedom in some areas, he said overseeing the two stores and leaving town for buying trips for Climate has left him away from his three children — Henry, 5; Etta, 4; and Harrison, 8 months — more than they are used to.

“We’re still working on finding the balance between giving each store enough time and giving the family and home enough time too,” he said.

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