Ken and Karan Hill, owners of K & K Video and Second Best, two retail stores on Main Street, received the 2008 Business of the Year award from the Churubusco Chamber of Commerce Thursday.
The award was presented by Chamber President Jim Horne to Ken Hill at the annual fall banquet held Thursday at the Eel River Golf Course Clubhouse.
Ken and Karan Hill started the business Dec. 3, 1997, while Karan was working as director of the Churubusco Public Library. She became friends with one of the library patrons who had started a rent-to-own business in the Central Building on Main Street.
Eventually Karan bought the business from her friend and left the library to devote herself fulltime to the store.
Karan Hill soon phased out the rent-to-own business and expanded the video rental portion of the business. The couple named the new business K & K, an abbreviation of their first names.
Soon thereafter, they had an opportunity to purchase the Central Building. After buying the building, which houses apartments upstairs and business and retail shops downstairs, the couple expanded the video shop even more and added a second hand clothing shop, as well.
"The video store was doing so well, it was just a natural to expand it," Karan Hill said.
Four years ago, Hills purchased the former Papa's Place building at the corner of Washington and Main streets and moved their business north to the historic site.
Eventually, the Hills video business took over the space occupied by the used clothing store and it was phased out, but not for long.
Just last week, Karan and Ken opened Second Best, which is housed in the "point" office of the Central Building. The new shop offers used brand name clothing, baby items and equipment and kitchen and house wares. It's open three days a week, Thurs.-Sat., 9-6.
Horne commended the Hills on their involvement with the local Chamber of Commerce and with the community as a whole.