On Whitehouse's Highway 110, the Familiar Shops Keep Finding New Owners

"We are very excited to come into this new community and this new market," Sam Braly told the Tyler Morning Telegraph this month. He was talking about the hardware store at 15282 State Highway 110, which operated as Roquemore's Hardware until June.

The sign is new and the store is the same one. That is the pattern on Highway 110 this year. The corridor's reported changes in 2026 split evenly between handoffs and expansions. Either one owner passed a working business to the next, or an operator who had already proven a concept somewhere else picked Whitehouse as its next location. Here is who changed hands, what stayed, and what is worth a stop before the month is out.

Four Addresses on 110, One Direction

Local reporting in 2026 covered four Highway 110 storefronts in Whitehouse. None of them describes a business disappearing.

Two of these are successions and two are expansions. All four involve someone choosing to put money into a Whitehouse address on 110.

A 1932 Family Name on a Whitehouse Hardware Store

The Braly family officially took over Roquemore's Hardware on June 1. Whitehouse is their third store, after Palestine and Jacksonville. The family calls itself a fifth-generation business, and its original Palestine store dates to 1932.

The Ace name over the door raises one question for longtime customers, and the answer is reassuring. Ace Hardware is a retailer-owned cooperative. Braly's buys mainly through Ace, but the family still owns and runs the store independently. So the store still has a local owner. The new name tells you where the stock comes from.

Sam Braly, the store manager, described the purchase as part of a long-term plan. "We do want to grow and continue to scale our business to where we can have a multi-store operation rather than just one store," he said. A family that wants its business to outlast the current generation picked an existing Whitehouse store to grow into. That suggests the Bralys see a market here worth building on.

Here is what is new inside:

• The 1932 Collective, a newly launched section of gifts and lifestyle goods, including housewares, purses and gifts for men and women.
• Paint mixing from Benjamin Moore, Royal and Clark+Kensington, so you can get paint mixed in town.
• Mallie, a Labrador retriever the paper called a valued employee, and Bella, a Lab puppy listed as an "employee in training."

The store is open 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Bookstore That Became Two Businesses

The bookstore sale went a step further. One business turned into two, and both are still running.

Stephen Girdner opened Elsewhere Books in 2022. This spring he sold the retail store to Stephanie Fox so he could focus on book sales and auctions, according to an April 14 Tyler Morning Telegraph report. Fox told the paper she wanted a new undertaking for herself. She and Girdner had known each other a long time.

By June, the shop at 300 S. Highway 110 had become Once Upon a Shelf Used Bookstore. Fox's plans included more inventory, better organization and a refreshed look, plus community events for readers. Girdner's Elsewhere Book Sales continues as its own business, handling estates, large collections, auctions and special book-sale events.

Whitehouse still has a used bookstore on 110, and it also has a local book business that handles estates and big collections. If you have shelves of books to clear from a family home, there is a local option. If you just want something to read this weekend, there is a shop for that too. Once Upon a Shelf is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Operators Who Proved Themselves Somewhere Else First

The two newcomers on 110 follow the same logic as the successions. Each one had a track record elsewhere before it opened in Whitehouse.

Taquito Time Mexican Restaurant already had a location at 12547 State Highway 31 W. in Tyler. Its Whitehouse location opened Sept. 21 at 203 State Highway 110, Suite 1. It serves street-style tacos, birria, fajitas and breakfast. It also brings Fresh Squeezed Lemonade Time, a new concept built around fresh-squeezed lemonade. Hours run 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Logic Performance Works took a different route to the corridor. Owner Hayden Smith had worked out of smaller spaces in the Flint area for three years before opening at 1204B State Highway 110. He does vehicle restoration, engine builds, electrical wiring, vintage air-conditioning installs, body swaps, performance upgrades and custom truck work. He explained his reasons for the move directly.

"I love being in the small town of Whitehouse… there really aren't many other businesses doing this type of work here. There are a few in Tyler, but it was a needed niche here."

The shop works by appointment at 903-337-8096. For anyone with a classic car or an import in the garage, that is one less reason to drive into Tyler.

Smith is the only one of these owners on record about why he chose Whitehouse, and his reason was an open niche. A Palestine hardware family, a Tyler taqueria and a Flint mechanic all brought businesses they had already built elsewhere to the same stretch of 110.

What a Sale Keeps Open

A business in nearby Gresham shows the other way a shop can end. Big Shot Coffee House, at 16700 FM 2493 in the Gresham community, will close Oct. 24 after nearly six years. Owner Lydia Baskin said increased competition, a Texas Department of Transportation project and rising business costs were more than the shop could weather. The coffee house will not be sold or relocated.

Baskin's work in the Tyler coffee scene will carry on. Her catering business continues as Big Shot: Espresso Catering, and she plans to keep running the Tyler Coffee Crawl, latte art competitions, and coffee training and consulting. The shop's final day on Oct. 24 will have live music, a vendors market and a food truck. She has asked customers to redeem rewards and gift cards before then.

Set beside Highway 110, the comparison is plain. When a storefront in this area finds a buyer, its address, inventory and daily routine carry over. When it doesn't, the community keeps the people and the events but loses the room. In 2026, the Whitehouse storefronts on 110 have found buyers or newcomers.

A Highway 110 Errand List for October

The next few weeks give you good reasons to stop at all four Highway 110 businesses, plus one more in Gresham:

1. Oct. 16-18: Braly's Ace Hardware holds its grand opening at 15282 State Highway 110, with sales, giveaways, demonstrations and food.
2. Any Wednesday through Saturday: Once Upon a Shelf at 300 S. Highway 110, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check its Facebook page for reader events.
3. A weekday morning: Breakfast at Taquito Time, 203 State Highway 110, Suite 1, starting at 7 a.m.
4. By appointment: Logic Performance Works at 1204B State Highway 110, reachable at 903-337-8096.
5. Before Oct. 24: If you have Big Shot rewards or gift cards, use them in Gresham before the final day.

Braly's mixes paint in the store, so a fall project could fit nicely around the grand opening weekend.

Following the businesses that open, change hands and carry on along Highway 110 is part of knowing Whitehouse well, and it's part of how Jena Waldron keeps her East Texas advice grounded. If you'd like a local recommendation or a conversation about your own plans in Whitehouse, let's connect.