Operating KWB Paints on Main is part of a larger mission for owner Kate Wakefield Bullis.

She bought the store when moving back to her hometown of Galesburg, Illinois, with dreams of enhancing the community where she grew up. She had a vision for using small businesses as launching points for building a more vibrant downtown.

At the time, the type of business wasn’t as important to Bullis as the opportunity to buy an existing operation she could improve.

“Buying the paint shop and having that store on Main Street was part of my goal of creating a district downtown,” Bullis says.

What surprised her was that she fell in love with selling paint and helping customers with their projects at the same time as she launched her downtown revitalization work.

KWB Paints on Main started out as Olson’s Paint Spot. Prior owner Dan Olson operated the store for about 17 years before selling it to Bullis in November 2017.

Starting Out

When Bullis stepped in, Olson’s store had about 800 square feet of selling space and declining sales.

Olson was knowledgeable about paint and his relationships with customers were strong, but his health was in decline and the business reflected that, Bullis says. The store was dirty and Olson had to run it from behind the paint counter because his health was frail.

Bullis’ father Jay Bullis bought the building where the paint store is located and suggested that his daughter acquire the store.

“It was my dad’s go-to paint shop,” Bullis says. “I think that’s why he came to me with the opportunity to buy.”

Bullis saw potential in the store and Olson was willing to work alongside her to help her get to know customers and learn about paint retailing. In the process of learning the business, Bullis developed a close friendship with Olson and his wife.

“I spent months with him at the store, working with him and listening to him work with customers,” she says.

At the same time, Bullis took classes from the store’s primary paint vendor and got to know other retailers in the paint industry.

Then she began remodeling and gave the store a new name. Her dream was to convert the store into a clean and attractive paint shop with a downtown boutique feel.

Bullis’ father led the charge of the remodel. They doubled the size of the salesfloor by ripping out poorly used backroom storage space and she revamped the layout to make the store more shoppable. She cleaned and decluttered the 1,600-square-foot space.

“I had this vision for having something more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing and that gave more room for movement,” Bullis says.

Coming Home

Bullis had no prior history working in paint or home improvement retail, but she did have a deep love for Galesburg and a wealth of experiences in her local community.

She grew up acting in local theater productions and, because of that community involvement and her family’s 100-year-old insurance company, had a wide and rich network of local friendships. Her father is the third generation of their family to own Bullis & Sundberg Insurance Services.

“When you grow up in a small town, it’s all those things you do that create those relationships with people,” Bullis says.

In 2004, she moved away to attend college in Indianapolis. She started her own nannying and kids’ party planning businesses and realized she loved entrepreneurship. She then got a different job planning events to complement the college classes she was taking on event planning and tourism management.

When she began thinking about starting her own family and moving back to Galesburg in 2017, her father encouraged her to buy the paint store and partner with him on business growth locally. She was ready.

Enriching the Community

Improving and rebranding the paint store were Bullis’ first significant projects upon her return to her hometown. She understood from working alongside Olson that relationships and her own personality would be important for building business.

“I’m a very social and talkative person,” Bullis says. “The store was a perfect fit for me as a first-time small business owner.”

She reconnected with the array of people she had grown up with and applied her interests and skills toward growing business.

“When you come home, you find one another again. It’s cool to see who has stayed or returned to put their education and experience back into Galesburg,” Bullis says.

Her experiences with event planning and theater have proven very useful. Together with her father, Bullis created the layout of KWB Paints on Main with a vision for how shoppers should move through the store, similar to how actors would walk through a set.

“In set design, you have this idea of flow and spatial needs and things that don’t fit,” Bullis says.

Two years later, she worked with her dad and her life partner, John Misuraca, to open another downtown business, The Downtown Escape, an entertainment facility with puzzle game rooms.

She also began managing and revamping a local nonprofit business association to support all downtown businesses and help them thrive together. The association had become inactive, but Bullis recruited partners and passionately sought to make the organization a resource for connecting downtown business owners with each other.

Her event planning skills were key as she took the lead on organizing the Galesburg holiday parade and Treat Street, a Halloween event at local businesses.

“My whole life has been about gaining as many experiences as possible and putting them all together to build my dreams,” Bullis says.

The business association now plans events year-round that drive foot traffic downtown—an effort that does more to boost business than advertising, she says.

“Having people walk by is how people know you’re there,” Bullis says. “When we throw events downtown, it drives foot traffic that supports our businesses.”

KWB Paints on Main is still Bullis’ primary focus, even though she is open to buying or starting more businesses. She has found that she loves color and connecting with customers over home and commercial projects.

Her staff is only three people total, so she spends much of her time selling paints, stains and sundries.

The store has also proven to be an ideal location for Bullis to embed herself in the local business community. She has hosted local jazz musicians for a small pop-up concert and stayed open after hours for Treat Street. The store also sponsors community fundraisers and local softball teams. In addition, it has a program for selling deeply discounted paints to area theater programs.

All of Bullis’ efforts to improve the store and strengthen the downtown business community have helped her grow paint sales and expand both her paint contractor clientele and her residential customer base.

“The shop is now kind of my greatest love out of all the things I do, but it was always part of this drive to boost downtown up,” Bullis says.