I’m Curious, Why Are The Doors Open At Ethan Allen In Tyler, Texas?

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OK, I've lived in Tyler for 25 years now and I have NEVER, EVER and I mean NEVER EVER seen the front doors open on the old Ethan Allen furniture store building at 815 WSW Loop 323 until yesterday afternoon.

I almost drove off the road on my way to lunch yesterday at noon when I passed by the run-down building that has been sitting empty for longer than I've been calling Tyler home with its front doors wide open. After passing by it, my curiosity got the best of me so I made a U-turn at Kinsey Dr. and another at Brookside Dr. to get back to Ethan Allen to find out what was going on.

I pulled into the parking lot and spoke to a couple of guys who had a trailer-load full of old carpet and I asked them what was going in.

One guy spoke up and said the building had been sold and all he knew is that he was hired to come to remove the carpet, but one of the two guys inside might know more.

Being the 'investigative journalist' I am, and I say that extremely loosely, I walked inside the building, which had a heavy musty old smell to it, and spoke to the two guys that were inside.

I got to the point and said, "I noticed you guys are working on the building here and I was wondering what was moving in."

The guy, who appeared to be in charge and possibly the owner, replied with, "It's a secret! I can't tell."

I didn't learn any more than that - A SECRET.

So I told him that this was the first time in the 25 years that I've lived here that I've seen these doors open and I was just curious about what was happening here. Trying to get a little more out of the guy, he said again, 'It's a secret."

I could read a little more into it if I wanted, but I'm not and at this point we all can begin speculating, because that's what Tyler loves to do, speculate on what will soon be moving into 815 WSW Loop 323 in the near future. If you think you know what's moving in, please email me with why you think that and what it's going to be.

It's good to see this building get a new lease on life after sitting vacant for more than 25 years. Even the River Oaks Plaza shopping center next door received a facelift about six or seven months ago and now it's showing signs of new life thanks to a new tenant that's moving into the strip center. The sign is up for a new daiquiri shop that will be opening soon.