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Affairs to Remember Written by Chris Wheeler Photos by Linnea Wheeler
A A perfect perfect fit fit
Diane Kauffman opened up Affairs to Remember at 113 East Warren right before the recession in 2007. On top of building and inventory payments, she was facing an uphill climb in building her brand and drumming up business, all without any experience in the industry.
“It was a real learning curve! But if I want to do something, I just do it. We’ll figure it out as we go. A lot of prayers, a lot of tears, a lot of ‘what in the world was I thinking?’ But we made it through!” Diana stated. Over the 14 years she has been in business, Diane has overcome many challenges, not least of which was last year. At the start of 2020, the furnace in the building went out, followed closely by the air conditioner. Then the pandemic hit in full force; without proms or many weddings, 2020 proved to be a tough year. Again, “we did it, we made it through - but on a wing and a prayer!” Diane has lived in Middlebury her entire life, and downtown for 22 years. Growing up with her parents Kenneth and Esther and her sister Joann, she remembers going to Smucker’s Drug Store and Bradshaws, the fiveand-dime previously located at 102 South Main Street. She displays her stock of jewelry on an original cabinet from Bradshaws. After graduating from Northridge in 1981, she got a job at Varns and Hoover, managing gift buying, displays,
inMiddlebury Magazine | MAY 2021 13
