True North’s new space makes unique use of former Grundy County Nursing Home

Anyone with family members who used to occupy the former Grundy County Nursing Home at 1338 Clay St. in Morris might be surprised to see their family names still above the rooms in each stall at the new location for True North.

Owner Stacey Olson said the family wanted to keep some of the nursing home aesthetic and build on top of that with vendors who have the kinds of items that would’ve been at home in the old nursing home. The first thing visitors see when they walk in is an old console TV cabinet with a slightly newer tube TV on top.

Olson said she and her husband, Erik, and their family have 150 new thrift, oddity and antique vendor spaces in the new location, with room for more on the second floor. They plan on opening the second floor in August 2025.

“We’ve left a lot of it with the nursing home feel,” Olson said. “We left the switches on the wall, the emergency call buttons, and we turned all the bathrooms into what we call a pass-through.”

They even left the toilet paper on the wall in all the pass-through bathrooms. One pass-through still has a toilet, which is now full of billiard balls instead of water.

True North still has functional restrooms, although customers will have to ask an employee to use one.

Olson said vendors travel from as far away as Iowa and Milwaukee once a week to restock. The store averages about one vendor restocking every hour.

“Our inventory is going to change just about every time you come in,” Olson said.

Olson said they’re a very close-knit family, and they all work together and provide support. Her daughter Brook and son-in-law Matt Anderson own the Hideout, which also opened a second location Friday. Matt has his own challenges in opening, since Brook is in Kuwait serving with the National Guard.

“They have two little kids, so we all babysit the kids and keep it in the family,” Olson said. “It’s like we’re juggling all these hats today.”

On top of its thrift, oddity and antique vendor spaces, True North also carries some brands such as Hello Kitty, of which it’s an authorized retail store. True North gets Hello Kitty items directly from the manufacturer and orders based on drawings. It also has items such as jewelry on top of all the vintage it carries.