When someone walks into April Kroenke’s new photography studio, she hopes they’ll feel instantly at ease.
“We want this space to feel like an extension of my home,” said Kroenke. She and husband Scott assumed control of the building at 201 South St. on Feb. 1. It was the former home of Heigele’s Repair Shop, which had been owned and operated by Mike McGie.
Since then, the couple has been hard at work, painting, remodeling, and modifying the 101-year old building. Bit by bit, they’re bringing to life a vision Kroenke has carefully sketched out on a whiteboard. “Our plan is to create a state-of-the-art space,” she said. “This is our forever home for the studio. I couldn’t have asked for a better building to have fallen in love with.”
IT ALL HAPPENED a bit by chance. “A few years back, Mike had asked me if I’d like to buy his building. At that point, things just weren’t right,” said Kroenke, so she passed on the opportunity. But things changed late last year. McGie and Kroenke reached an agreement, but concurred to keep things quiet until the building officially changed hands.
The official opening date? Kroenke is shooting for April 1, a fitting date given her first name. “I have to be out of my current location by March 31, so if we can get everything done sooner, great,” said Kroenke. “But I already have plans to host the next Chamber office hours here on April 15,” she noted with a smile. “It’s the month of me, so I figure, ‘Why not?’”
KROENKE has rented space at her current location of 101 E. Madison, Suite B from Jock’s Nitch for the last two years. “Jock’s Nitch and the owner Phil have been great,” said Kroenke. “But it was time for me to have my own space again. As a renter, there’s only so much you can do with your space.”
The new location will allow Kroenke to be more intentional with her studio and increase customer privacy. Currently, “a lot of my foot traffic is people walking into the studio looking for Jock’s Nitch,” said Kroenke. And while there’s a risk of less visibility moving off Highway 54, Kroenke noted her new location has its advantages. “Scott and I have already noticed there’s a lot of traffic on South Street with Emprise Bank and Miss Chelsea’s Dance Academy. Several customers have already waved at me through the windows as they walk by.”
Kroenke’s photography studio will be just the second business to occupy the building. McGie had owned Heigele’s Repair Shop for the last 22 years, but the shop’s origins date back to 1881 when Phil Heigele opened a harness and tack store in Abilene. That store burned, so he moved a few miles away to Solomon before migrating to Iola and opening a store in 1901.
The store relocated to 201 S. South St. in 1925, and Randy Heigele sold the shop to McGie in 2002.
“Mike’s done a great job with the building. It has so much potential,” said Kroenke, admiring the tin ceiling, attractive storefront windows, and neat brickwork. Kroenke hopes to convert the second floor, which has its own separate entrance, into one or two apartment units. She plans to keep the second floor’s original hardwood floors.
KROENKE and her husband Scott are no strangers to Iola. April is a 1998 graduate from Iola High School; Scott graduated a year earlier. “We started dating my junior year. We’re true high school sweethearts, and we even survived the Army,” said Kroenke with a wry smile.
Scott, who now works at B&W Trailer Hitches, retired as a major in the U.S. Army after 26 years of service. Kroenke opened her Iola photography business in June 2021; she’s been a professional photographer since 2008.
“I’d been praying about the move,” said Kroenke. “And when the opportunity presented itself, everything just fell into place.”
And then she was back to back to work, grabbing a paintbrush and changing into a splattered sweatshirt, bringing the vision of her new studio into focus.
