He and his wife Sharon operate The Wishing Well at 427 S. Stephenson Ave., a fixture in the downtown since the 1980s. His family history in retail sales goes back much further.

“My dad had a retail business and all his brothers and cousins were all retail. I was kind of raised in it. I couldn’t help it,” he said.

Born in 1941, Khoury remembers as a boy selling popcorn and popsicles out of his garage on the corner of Stockbridge Avenue and H Street in the mid-1950s. The popsicles were frozen in ice cube trays. The popcorn sold for 2 cents but he later had to raise it to 3 cents.

“I can picture it today. A lot of kids remembered it,” he said.

DON KHOURY operates the 1910 cash register behind the counter. He has used the antique register to ring up sales for about 35 years at his store, The Wishing Well, in downtown Iron Mountain. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

Those who walk into The Wishing Well will notice the 1910 cash register, which he has used for about 35 years. Bins of bulk candy line the side of the sales counter.

“We’re the only candy store in Iron Mountain where you can scoop out the candy and weigh it on a scale,” Khoury said. “When I see a young kid and they’re buying candy I appreciate that. I make sure they know.”

He started the shop selling antiques but closed out that part of the business about 12 years ago. “I had dishes and glassware and all that stuff, but it just died off,” Khoury explained. “Young kids are not buying the antiques.”

He’s been making his own rustic items for 45 years. They also sell a lot of older-looking ladders, doors and windows for decor. “And that is about the only old things we have,” he said.

“I roll with the punches. I rotate and buy what they want to buy. I look for the trends and listen to the customer,” Khoury said. “When they come in here, they expect something different. They like that. They say how nice it is and how different.”

SOME OF THE merchandise offered at The Wishing Well store in downtown Iron Mountain, including a selection of rustic items made by owner Don Khoury. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

The shop is in the former Montgomery Ward building, which is about 100 years old. Khoury has been in this location since 1980. Before that, he had stores at the sites now occupied by City Hall and Blackstone Pizza Company.

“My grandfather had a store at this location. It was a different building because it was in 1900. It was a wooden building and he had a candy shop and look at me, now I’m selling candy,” Khoury said. “He was there for a couple years. I only found that out about 10 years ago. I didn’t realize he was here on this property.

“Being on the corner really catches attention. God has granted us a very good business and good business sense.”

Khoury grew up roaming the downtown area. “I was constantly downtown.”

He remembers being able to park on the street. “When you parked on the street you would get out and walk the street,” he said.

SOME OF THE merchandise offered at The Wishing Well store in downtown Iron Mountain, including a selection of rustic items made by owner Don Khoury. They also sell old windows, doors and ladders. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

His father owned the Avenue Bar, where the Blind Pig recently was located, from the 1930s until the 1960s.

“I used to go and help him clean the bar on Sundays,” Khoury said.

His grandmother had a clothing store called the Grey Shoppe from the 1930s until her death in 1955.

“I appreciate people coming in through the years and I’ve seen all these stores downtown come and go,” he said.

He’s enjoyed the resurgence the downtown district has experienced in recent years.

“I love it. I’m very, very pleased. We’re in a rebirth right now. A rebirth of stores and I’m very pleased,” Khoury said. “I’ve found this out through 54 years in business — about every seven years there’s an upturn and we’re in the fourth year,” he said. “I’m just happy that the downtown is looking as good as it is.”

His customer base has also changed through the years. “The older people are not buying as much. Younger people are not buying the old things, but they are buying the rustic things I make,” Khoury said. “The older people have what they want.”

He appreciates when customers take their time to browse. “Don’t run in and run out right away — you need to take time to see what we have,” Khoury said. “If you don’t buy anything at that time, that’s OK, you’re thinking about it and you’ll tell someone else and eventually someone will come in because of you being here. It’s my advertising, having people look around.”

Being in business this long, he now has served several generations of customers.

“I see grandchildren of the children who came in originally. They came in the 1970s, now they have grandchildren. They are coming and buying from me, three generations,” Khoury said.

“People will have memories of me and my store. I’m not saying I want to be remembered, but they will remember that man with the old cash register and buying candy from that man on the corner in that store,” Khoury said.

“I’m the only Khoury left in business in Iron Mountain. For 120 years, a Khoury was in business,” he said.

He knows someday it will end. “How many more years? I keep saying two years. I don’t know. I still enjoy it.”