It is a Yazoo landmark, an icon. With its neon red sign and familiar smell inside, it was a place that took you back in time when salesmen knew you by name and helped you out when you needed it.
It was more than a place to shop. It was a place to socialize, share a few laughs and make a few friends.
It is the Black and White Department Store. And with heavy hearts, the Chisolm family will close its doors in January after close to eight decades of service.
“After 78 wonderful years and a lifetime that I wouldn’t trade with anybody, it saddens me more than you can imagine to say that the Black and White Store will be closing our doors for the last time at the end of January,” John Chisolm said.
John said his family has managed to keep the family business open as it struggled with business over the last three years. Unfortunately, he said the recent decision to close its doors is the only feasible option available.
“Business has been slowly on the decline for the last 15 years, but in this business as long as you break even after paying all your bills and employees’ salaries, it’s fine,” John said. “Unfortunately, when you have to start digging into what you’ve spent a lifetime building just to pay invoices, it’s not sustainable.”
Online shopping and manufacturers unable to cater to small businesses are the two main reasons behind the closure, John said.
“I’ve weighed every option about what to do in regards to keeping it open, but the writing on the wall is just too hard to ignore,” John said.
John will venture onto other opportunities, and his father Jimmy Chisolm will settle into retirement.
But John takes a deep breath as he looks around the store he was raised, practically born, in.
“That is what is going to be hard,” he said, scanning over the merchandise. “When it’s all over, and it’s just a shell here.”
John grew up on Main Street, inside the store his father Jimmy purchased from Bernard Fink. It was his second home, and a business his family took pride in calling their own.
The Chisolm family loved its customers. From specially ordering items to letting merchandise leave on credit and handshake, it’s hard to find a business like that anymore.
But Yazoo was lucky to have it. And John and Jimmy Chisolm loved offering honest values with friendship to match.
“What we’ll both miss the most though is the people we’ve met along the way that have become family,” John said. “We couldn’t have made it 78 years of business without such loyal customers. Most of our customers have known me since I was born. I wouldn’t have known such great people had it not been for this store.”
“This town has been good to us,” John added. “This town needs a store like us. A lot of people depended on us, and that is the hardest part. Thank you to everyone who supported us for all these years. It’s been a run that few businesses anywhere could rival. None of it could’ve been possible without the wonderful people in this town.”
