Crafts and antiques store to open in former Pioneer Market building

A new business will open in Pioneer Market's former space in Jackson eight years after its closing in 2013.

Old Pioneer Market, an antiques and crafts store, will open Nov. 1.

The building has sat vacant since owner Sam Beggs retired in 2013. However, the once-beloved Jackson staple has remained a special place in the minds of Jackson and Cape Girardeau natives, according to Bobbie Jo Cathcart.

"Everyone who has come into the store has a story about this place," Cathcart said.

Cathcart and her daughter, Ashley Foster, began renting Pioneer Market's former building earlier this year. The duo — both professed "junkers" with a love of thrifting, crafting and antiquing — will own and operate Old Pioneer Market.

The market, at 2008 W. Jackson Blvd., will host 36 vendors, half craftsmen and half antique enthusiasts who will sell products in booths, Foster said.

Sifting through thrift stores and garage sales has always been an activity Foster and her mother enjoyed doing together. But for Foster and Cathcart, the business is more than just a second chance for vintage goods and unique finds.

Cathcart said the decision to open a crafts and antiques market came after she received a breast-cancer diagnosis.

"It's always been a dream of mine to own a thrift or antique type of place, but I would just never take the leap to do it," Cathcart said. "But once I went through breast cancer, it was like, 'It's now or never.'"

Cathcart then asked Foster to join her. Foster heard of Pioneer Market's empty building through her employer at Allied Heating and Cooling who owned the building. Soon after, she and her mother became renters and started renovating it for their market.

Throughout renovations, Foster and Cathcart salvaged remnants of the market's past and repurposed them.

They found Pioneer Market's former sign and changed it to read "Pioneer Market Antiques and Crafts" instead of "Pioneer Market Fruits and Vegetables." They fashioned a wooden cashiers sign from a former shelving unit and hung it above the market's register.

Foster said the history of the building was almost as important as the building itself.

"Everybody talks about different things they remember when they come in," Foster said. "For me, I remember coming in here and seeing the pumpkins and candy near the checkout stations."

One day during renovations, she found names inscribed onto a post in the market. One name, "Kelly," was written by one of the Beggs' granddaughters.

Sam Beggs inherited the market from his father, William Henry Beggs, and ran the business for several decades, according to Sam Beggs' wife, Margaret Beggs. The family operated the market until 2013 when Sam Beggs decided to retire at 70 years old.

Sam Beggs's nephew, Bill Beggs, currently owns and operates Pioneer Orchard in Cape Girardeau off South Silver Springs Road.

Margaret Beggs said she and her husband look forward to seeing how Cathcart and Foster transformed Pioneer Market once it opens.

For Cathcart, the new business is a reminder to never let her fears get in the way. She underwent surgery in July that removed her cancer.

"They say you've got to make your dreams come true," Cathcart said. "You're the only one that can make them come true, even though that first step is scary. ... But you've got to put all that aside and say, 'I'm going for it.'"

Old Pioneer Market's grand opening is Nov. 1. Its hours of operation will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.