Evans Health Studio closes after 52 years

Phyliss Harper has owned the store at 500 W. Mount Vernon St. since 1982, except for a few years in the late 1990s.

Harper said she’s closing the store to lighten her load. She also helps her husband, Ron Harper, run his Ozark business, Sunrise Security.

“I’m retiring from the store, but really I’m just scaling back,” she said. “It just got to the point that I had to give up something.”

Evans Health Studio carried health foods, supplements, skin-care products, herbs and health books in a 2,400-square-foot space. Harper said she didn’t try to sell the business and has no intention of reopening it elsewhere.

The building and a half-acre lot with parking for 10 cars is listed through Roy Swafford Realty for $138,900. The listing says Harper would sell the building and the store’s inventory for $219,900.

“I think being that close to downtown (and having) a parking lot, it would make a perfect place for a restaurant,” said Harper, who noted the building already has a kitchen.

Harper’s only regret about retiring is severing her relationships with regular customers.

“We’ll miss the customers very much,” she said. “We’ve made some really, really good friends.”

At Sunrise Security, 177 Hickory Drive in Ozark, the Harpers have been selling and installing alarms, central vacuum systems and intercoms in homes and businesses for 12 years.

For the last six years, Phyliss Harper has served as office manager.