While in the process of constructing a new store in Centralia, East County Guns decided their Elma location was due for a makeover.

“I’ll tell you, having been working here on and off for the last 12 years and full-time for the last five, that the store was pushing 15 years old and it was just time for a facelift,” said longtime employee James Huston.

Owners of East County Guns, Andy and Karla Fleming, opened a store in Centralia in April. Andy said after looking at the finished product in Centralia, they knew something had to be done with the Elma location.

“Well we’ve been on site here for 15 years and it’ll be our 16th anniversary in March,” Andy said. “We had opened a second location in Centralia in the end of April and with the new location, new displays and new floor it became glaringly apparent that we needed to bring our standards in Elma up to present a nice, clean format. It was just ready for a facelift.”

The previous display wall was somewhat dated and had been a pegboard style, Andy said. The new display wall is more modern and Andy said it just looks “cleaner.” The Elma store is now also without its carpet, the owners having installed hardwood floors. Patrons may also recognize a cooler feel when entering the store thanks to a brand new air conditioning unit. To top things off, the store is sporting new lights and a new coat of paint. The Elma store was closed from Aug. 5 until Aug. 16 for the renovations which were done by Foxhead Construction.

“It’s been a great location for us and we decided to spruce it up a little bit,” Andy said. “We plan on staying here for the next 15 to 20 years and wanted to have a nice space for our community.”

The owners cleared away much of what was in the showroom in an effort to open up the space.

“The room turned out a little bit bigger than I thought it was going to look,” Andy said. “Its a nice, open floor plan. It turned out very good and we’re very excited about it.”

Thanks to the earlier project in Centralia the Fleming’s had a good idea of what they wanted done in Elma as well as how much it would cost. While he didn’t give an exact figure he noted they were, “right on the money.”

“I think if we had waited 15 years and weren’t aware of what was happening I would’ve been blindsided,” Andy said. “But that was not the case.”

Both Huston and Fleming said their customers are liking what they see. Huston noted the improvements make for a better place to work as well.

“It absolutely made us more prideful in our shop and work,” Huston said. “It looks more professional and it’s a nice work environment to come and see all the updates. We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from our customers. They really like the store and the open floor plan.”

“I think the general consensus is a lot of people are really excited,” Andy said. “They like the updated look, it’s nice and clean.”

East County Guns in Elma plans to hold a grand re-opening at the end of this month.

East County Guns is located at 309 W. Main St.