Parkersburg residents purchase Grundy Center business

One longtime Grundy Center business - Jansen Optical - is seeing some changes this new year, including new owners and a new name.

On January 8, Joe Simon and his son Brennen purchased Jansen Optical from former owner John Jansen, who is moving out of state. Part of the transition is the business’s new name: Hometown Optics.

The father and son duo - Joe and Brennen - and are residents of Parkersburg, who lived in Grundy Center for over a decade when Joe worked as a manager at Abels Funeral Home. The two agreed that they are excited to be running their own family business in town.

“I’ve known John for years, so one day I came in to pick up some glasses from him, and we got to talking about how he wanted to sell the business so he could move,” Joe said. “That’s when it clicked. We knew this place needed to be here; it’s been here for 62 years. John’s dad ran it, and then John did, and now there’s another father son team running it.”

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