Photo by Jim Tate Marshall Decorating Center owner Todd Schroeder and longtime employee Kelly Hennen are shown in the store on Marshall’s Main Street.

“The most bang you can get out of a decorating budget is a gallon of paint.”

That’s what Marshall Decorating Center owner Todd Schroeder said as he reflected on the second-generation business and the trends that he’s seen over the years.

Schroeder has owned the business since 2000 and has worked at the store since 1987.

He’s a Marshall native and after graduation, earned an AA degree in accounting from Minnesota West-Canby, then attended SMSU for a year.

During that time he worked part-time at Alco, where Brau Brothers is now, and joined their management program, where he was an assistant manager for the discount chain in both Fairmont, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was discovering, however, that the corporate world wasn’t for him.

Frustrated one day, he called his father, Walt, seeking advice.

Walt Schroeder was co-owner of Marshall Decorating at the time, a business he started in 1972. He also had a painting business and teamed with local businessman Art Reese to open the store in what is now the patio and back party room of the Wooden Nickel.

His father suggested he return to Marshall and go to work at the store.

“So I’d work two or three days on a painting crew, and the rest of the time at the store,” said Schroeder.

Walt would eventually buy Reese’s half of the business. Walt’s wife, Liz, was the store’s bookkeeper. Todd and Beth Schroeder then purchased the store from Walt, and Todd became the sole owner 2014.

When Schroeder’s father owned the store, he had a longtime employee by the name of Bev Kenyon.

“She was one of our neighbors and she worked for dad for 26 years,” said Schroeder.

Fast forward to 2024, and Schroeder is working with another longtime employee, Kelly Hennen, who has been with Marshall Decorating 23 years. “She does everything; I’d be lost without her,” said Schroeder. “We don’t have jobs titles, and she does it all around this place.”

Marshall Decorating sells only Benjamin Moore paint. “It’s a high-quality product and that hopefully equates to satisfied customers,” said Schroeder. Marshall Decorating can make “literally an unlimited amount of colors” of paint, he said.

Marshall Decorating also handles floor coverings, a big part of the business, as well as window treatments.

They also sell smaller furniture and homes decor items.

Lighter colors in paint are trendy now, said Schroeder, “and people are doing accent walls, too, like back in the ’70s, that’s been fun to see.”

In floor coverings, vinyl tile and vinyl planking are the current trend. They come in various thicknesses, and the “wear layer” varies, too, The thicker the product and wear layer, the more expensive, said Schroeder. Those coverings have been hot the last five years, he said, “and I don’t see it changing.”

He carries 50,000 square feet of vinyl tile and planking now, and three years ago that number was just 3,000 square feet.

By contrast, “back then I had as many as 150 rolls of carpet, today there’s just a few roles of carpet, and remnants.”

A growing community directly affects his business, and Schroeder said Marshall is a consistently growing community with a healthy downtown. His location at 440 West Main St. is ideal for his business.

“I’ve got good neighbors, and there’s plenty of parking in the lot in back of the store, and in front of the store,” he said.

And while COVID did affects some businesses, it kept him busy.

“I’d be at the store, filling phone orders, handing out paint samples. People had time, and one of the things they did was to paint. We were busy, in a different way. I was pleasantly surprised,” he said.

Schroeder is proud of the family history that’s weaved into the Marshall Decorating Center’s story, and is appreciative of a loyal customer base over the years.

“People have been loyal, and they appreciate our customer service and general knowledge,” he said.