It would be considered rude by most standards to pull into a person’s driveway, honk your horn and expect them to fix your sofa.
For Frank Emick, it’s just another day.
Emick and his wife, Rose, moved into what used to be a quiet house along Savannah Road in 1981. Zoning issues did not allow a business, so Frank began working from his garage. In fact, the laws of the time were so far from today’s standards that the deed to Emick’s house has a stipulation that only a Caucasian can own the property. He hung up a sign that still stands today that reads, “Emick Upholstery. Blow Horn.”
“We decided we were going to set up [in the garage],” Frank said. “The minute we put a sign up people were here.”
“There was no other way except if people came up and rang the doorbell,” Rose said.
Last June, Frank was diagnosed as blind. Rose drives him around and Frank has stepped back in most of the day-to-day operations of his business. That is until he gets an itch to work. After spending a lifetime working with upholstery, Emick is still able to work with his hands.
“He’s 87 years old and can’t quit,” said Rose, who is seven years his junior.
A World War II veteran, Frank Emick has been involved in his share of battles. Perhaps his greatest victory was somehow managing to keep his business in the garage and keep a parking spot for his wife.
“Having a business was not my idea,” Rose said. “I went home one day and my garage was turned into a workshop. He said he’d clear a space for me every night, and he did.”
Frank has been working with Rose throughout their 60-year marriage. She does the paperwork and bookkeeping. Frank said there are many perks working from home.
“Well, the commuting is good,” Frank joked.
Emick’s home is filled with comfortable furniture that Frank or his grandson, Jordan, who works for Frank, have refurbished. Some of the chairs, sofas and loveseats made the trek from Olean, N.Y., a town south of Buffalo where the Emicks used to reside. The comfort brought by time and use, and velvety fabrics used long ago make the furniture seem like relics. There are no microfibers to be found. Emick’s garage is about as minimalistic as one can get while still using electricity. A few sheets of fabric covered in designs and colors lean Portrait
Continued from page 14
neatly in a corner. A lone sewing machine that looks like it belongs inside an antique store along Second Street instead of an entrepreneur’s shop make up Emick’s Upholstery.
When Emick approaches his sewing machine, he knows exactly where to sit and what to do, despite his lack of sight. His hands do not falter when he places a square of cloth under the needle.
The residential population in the Cape Region has boomed since Frank moved to the area. Sometimes the cars on Savannah Road blow their horns as they drive by and are mistaken for customers. “I’ll be out working in the back yard and hear somebody honk,” Frank said. “We’ll hurry up and open the garage door and nobody will be there.”
And though Frank has garnered quite a reputation over the years for his work, he has also been recognized for his efforts while serving his country in the Navy. A few nights ago, while wearing a WW II veteran’s hat, Emick was stopped by admirers while he was walking the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. “These two young guys stopped him and asked to shake his hand and thank him for his service,” Rose said. “But Frank is too shy to brag about something like that.”
Contact Eddie Phillipps at eddiep@capegazette.com
