Ever since Ike Miller took over his family business, Miller Carpets, he has dreamed of moving it to 7 Main Street. The historic building, built in 1889 as a post office, had fascinated Miller since childhood. And the visibility afforded by a Main Street storefront, he felt, was hard to beat.
So, when the location finally became available in June, Miller -- who had already waited for more than a decade -- didn’t hesitate. He immediately put down a deposit and rushed to complete the move in three weeks.
To pull off the move so quickly and without temporarily shutting down was a big challenge, said Miller. But “the right space doesn’t open up often, so it was an easy decision.”
Ike and Karla Miller at their new “home” on Main Street.
“It took a herculean effort,” said Karla Miller, Ike Miller’s wife and co-owner of the shop. “At first I didn’t see his vision, but I really am glad we moved.”
For Miller, who spent much of his childhood along Main Street, there’s something special about owning a business in Old Town Warrenton. “The neat part of being in Old Town is that you’re definitely part of a community,” said Miller. “It’s kind of difficult to get anywhere because you always run into someone you know.”
That kind of tight-knit community, he feels, is hard to come by. “It was a very different feel being out on the bypass,” said Miller, who previously operated Miller Carpets along Shirley Avenue. “The energy on Main Street — there’s nowhere else in the county you feel that.”
Miller’s connection to Main Street goes back to his father, Bill Miller, who first opened Miller Carpets on Main Street in 1968, just one door down from the current location.
From an early age, Miller spent much of his time at the store with his father, learning the ins and outs of the carpet trade. “In any family business you’re going to be drafted into doing some work,” he said, and the flooring business requires particular skills. “You have to understand construction; you have to know and appreciate fashion; and you have to understand how to execute projects on time and in budget … They don’t teach what we do in school.”
As a young man, Miller left the family business for a career in the tech industry. But after putting in years at companies like IBM, he decided to go back to work with his father in 2008.
They worked together until his father’s retirement in 2015. “I thoroughly enjoyed that time,” Miller said. “To work with your dad side-by-side for that long is a really special thing.” Miller’s father passed away at the end of 2020.
Miller also has a passion for the work. “I’ve had different careers and enjoyed every one of them,” he said. “But there’s nothing like working with a family to make a lasting improvement to their home.”
Now that Miller has returned the business to Main Street, he is excited to make his presence felt. In recent weeks, he has reached out to other Old Town businesses to offer up some of his ample window space. “It’s amazing, the foot traffic we get past our window,” he said. “We plan to change our window [displays] quite often to let different businesses show stuff in that space.”
He is also pursuing a town grant to fund custom, weather-proofed carpets for the 26 parklets along Main Street.
New customers of Miller Carpets might also face inspection from Malcolm, Miller’s 17-year-old pug, who has a bed right under Miller’s desk. Designated the business’s O.C.D. (Official Carpet Dog) by Miller, Malcolm has been accompanying his owner to work since he was a puppy. “I used to carry him around in my pocket,” remembered Miller.
For Miller, it’s a fun job. “If you can’t wake up every day and feel great about what you do—you’re in the wrong business.”
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August 04, 2021 at 08:00PM
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Miller Carpets moves to Main Street Warrenton | News | fauquier.com - Fauquier Times
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