Jim Monroe picks up Hopkinsville landmarks on a daily basis. It all started in the 1980s, when Monroe bought up prints of a painting entitled “Ferrell’s Snappy Service.” The painting, which depicts the beloved burger joint in streaky red and green brush strokes, would sell well, he figured.

Monroe was new to the decor business at the time. He bought Staton’s Art and Framing from the Staton family when the store was still at its Skyline Drive location. Learning how to frame artwork and family artifacts wasn’t “rocket science,” Monroe says. The careful process of measuring, color coordinating, cutting and assembling could be mastered without much trouble.

The real challenge was to cater to local tastes. To excel at this, Monroe adopted the attitude that he needed to earn each and every customer.

“If you’re not offering a good product at a good price, you can’t expect (customers) to walk through your doors,” Monroe said.

Local decorators want their molding and matting in fashionable colors such as greens, golds and chocolate browns. Accent furnishings need to be tasteful name-brands that aren’t available anywhere else.

Artwork had to be selective too, Monroe says. Nothing too avante garde or abstract.

“You won’t find any Jackson Pollocks in here,” Monroe said, referring to the famous drip painting expressionist. “Tastes are more conservative (in Hopkinsville).”

The big name artists in Staton’s selection are painter of light Thomas Kinkade and celebrity caricaturist David O’Keefe.

The inventory is filled with local artists too, including farm scenes, wildlife portraits, University of Kentucky sports memorabilia and many renderings of Hopkinsville’s sights. A flip through the store’s poster-size paintings finds multiple versions of the Alhambra Theatre, the intersection of Ninth and Main streets and the First Presbyterian Church façade.

Ferrell’s seems to be the single most popular landmark among local artists. When asked for examples, Monroe pulls out a painting called You Can Smell the Onions. A yellow glow emerges through the diner’s windows on a quiet night, suggesting that Ferrell’s is a place where appetites and senses never sleep.

Hopkinsville painter James Cain Jr., who recently stopped into Staton’s to get a nearly finished painting sized for framing, has his own rendering of Ferrell’s. Done in what Cain called a pop art style, the painting poses a cast of local characters, including an Amish farmer, in and around the diner.

Monroe has sold many of Cain’s paintings, the hottest of which was a collage of sports and farm images called Trigg County Pride.

Cain said he appreciates the time Monroe spends with him comparing molding and matting in search of the perfect frame. 

Monroe said that making personal attention a priority is one key to a successful business. When a customer enters the store on Fort Campbell Boulevard, Monroe or his assistant Violet Egan make themselves available to help regardless of what they are busy with.

Because the customer often doesn’t know what he wants until he sees it, the process can take a while. But Monroe doesn’t watch the clock. He’s learned that spending time with customers, even a long time, cultivates relationships that bring back repeat business.

One such relationship is with Jennie Stuart Medical Center. When the hospital built a new three-story addition in 2007, Staton’s provided all the wall art. Monroe said that a contract of that magnitude was the result of the years of cultivating rapport and confidence with hospital representatives.

Staton’s has won similar large contracts with United Southern Bank.

But Monroe said he makes the same accommodations for individual customers. When a bargain hunter brings him a cheaper frame to avoid having to pay for his sometimes expensive frames, he will oblige.

Often times, such requests come from younger homeowners with less disposable income. If he can meet the request, the chances improve that as the customer’s income increases they will return to Staton’s in the future.

Much of the custom cutting and mounting is done by Monroe’s framing crew, which is led by George Hostilo. Hostilo hustles around a work table filled with glue, vice grips and half-assemble pieces of molding.

“Assembling 15 custom frames is a good day,” Hostilo said.

Monroe said the custom frame jobs are not exclusive to art. He has preserved family heirlooms such as a World War I Army jacket and symbolic objects such as a still warm pancake.

To compliment its core business, Staton’s carries numerous other décor items. There are displays of Howard Miller grandfather clocks, wine furnishings and memory blocks.

Monroe said the furnishings were chosen for their ability to accentuate artwork and for their uniqueness.

“I’ve tried to establish a niche,” Monroe said. “Things that you can’t find at Kirkland’s or Hobby Lobby.”