A Family Crisis Leads to a Successful Retail Career

Mode O’Day owner Opal Beck celebrates 40 years of business in downtown Rogers

Some people seem destined to hold the jobs they have; others happen upon their careers by chance. Opal Beck falls into the latter category: She never saw herself as a retailer.

On June 6, the Rogers Downtown is Uptown group will hold a “roast and toast” to honor Beck, who has owned and operated a Mode O’Day franchise for the last 40 years.

“They’ve got three ministers on the program. I think they are trying to reform me,” says Beck about the upcoming event. “They are also doing a style show, and I can just imagine they are going to get dressed up in the god-awfulest things, but it will be fun.”

Twist of fate

It was a strange twist of fate that led Beck, a former schoolteacher, to the retail business.

“My husband had had a stroke … and I could not see myself starting back to school in the state he was in,” says Beck. “This franchise became available and one of the merchants here in town called me and asked me if I would be interested in it. I did not know anything about clothing, and I did not even know what a franchise was, but I felt I needed to be doing something else besides what I was doing.”

At the time, Beck was also doing the book work for three local livestock auctions, a task that sometimes kept her working for almost 24 hours straight on the weekends.

“I set up an appointment with the representative from Mode O’Day, and, at the time, my daughter was in the hospital,” says Beck. “We met on the steps of the hospital and talked briefly, and I don’t know if he was desperate or if he saw my desperation, but anyway, he said, ‘If you want this franchise, it’s yours.’

“Of course I had to pay for it. But, it has always been the policy of Mode O’Day that there has to be a need. You do not go into business with them just for fun.”

That was in February 1958. The store opened that October. Beck remembers, “Opening day, we gave out Simideon orchids that were flown in from Hawaii. That was a big thing for our little town.”

Although Beck says that she “did not know anything about retailing,” business was good and the store grew rapidly. Within three years, the store had outgrown its space, so Mode O’Day moved down the block to its current location at 110 W. Walnut St.

“It’s been a lifesaver for me,” says Beck of her store. “I say it’s been a godsend. This business, you won’t get rich at it, but you can make a living.”

A little help

The most immediate benefit for Beck was the store gave her more time to spend with her husband, Milo.

“My husband could not work again, but he did get to walk,” Beck remembers. “He could come down and do my daily reports, or go to the bank. He enjoyed all of the rapport that the guys had down at the corner drugstore, where they would meet and shoot the breeze.”

Beck says most of her family has worked in her store at one time or another. She has received lots of help from her daughter, Sue Fleming. At one time, Fleming even opened her own school supplies store in the space above her mother’s, but customers found the stairs too steep. Now, she owns Sue’s Two in Fountain Plaza.

Beck’s granddaughters spent time working in the store, greeting customers and gradually learning other aspects of the business.

“They cut their teeth in the business world by working for Granny,” Beck laughs. “Sometimes, I think, it is harder for people to work for relatives than work for people who are not relatives. Part of the time, I think, they enjoyed it, but part of the time they probably did not enjoy it.”

Beck also helped her grandchildren in other ways. As a high school graduation gift, each one got to choose a destination spot for a trip with Beck. Their choices were often exotic: Australia, the Greek islands and several European countries.

Now, Beck is helping great-grandchildren. A great-granddaughter, Amanda Beck, will help her at Mode O’Day on Saturdays this summer.

Outside interests

One of the first things Beck did after opening her store was join the local Chamber of Commerce. Through the years, she has served on several committees and even spent some time as first vice president.

Beck also served on the Rogers City Council and the Benton County Quorum Court and is a founding member of Downtown is Uptown.

“We felt we had to hang together, or, as Benjamin Franklin said, we’d hang separately,” says Beck of the downtown group.

In addition to seasonal advertising promotions, the group works to have parades and other family activities in the downtown area.

“We do a lot of things that are good public relations-type things, not necessarily big money makers, but they do bring people to our area so they can see what is in the old part of town,” says Beck. She is proud of downtown Rogers, which has a low vacancy rate, and has worked hard in recent years to restore old buildings and bring in new businesses.

“The secret, I think, to anybody’s success in business is to cooperate with your neighbors and to become part of the community,” says Beck.

Her friends and neigbors agree.

“She has really been a downtown business leader for our community,” says Jenny Harmon, program manager for Main Street Rogers and the organizer of the roast and toast. “We want to pay tribute to somebody who has put so much work into our downtown.”