Neighbors new in east Iola

By RICHARD LUKEN
Register Reporter

Richard Luken/Register ?Brenda Buck, right, is the owner of B’s Tax Service, which opened its doors at 1205 East St. last month. She is joined here by Leah Stout and Mike Buck.

Richard Luken/Register ?Brian and Lindsey Shaughnessy are the new owners of O’Shaughnessy Liquor LLC, 1211 East St.

Brenda Buck is certain she’ll get along with her new neighbors.
The fact that she runs a tax preparation service and her neighbors, Brian and Lindsey Shaughnessy, operate a liquor store may come in handy, she said with a laugh.
“I’ve already had one friend tell me that it would be good,” Buck said. “That way she could go next door to take care of the headache I’ll give her.”
Both businesses, B’s Tax Service and O’Shaughnessy Liquor, have opened in recent weeks. The Shaughnessys operate the former Peters Retail Liquor, owned by Richard and Doris Peters for more than 30 years at 1211 East St. Buck opened B’s at 1205 East St. Her building served as the former U-Do Convenience Store, but has been empty the past seven years.
Opening a new business there meant a complete remodeling, Buck said.
“About the only thing left are the concrete walls and floor,” she said. “Everything else is new — even the roof.”
The building had begun to decay after years of neglect, to the point that a brushy area filled with trumpet vines behind the structure had penetrated the roof.
“We had brush growing inside the building,” Buck recalled. “We knew it was going to take a lot of work, but doing it this way means I know exactly what I have in this building now.”
Demolition work began June 11, the same day Buck took possession of the building.
Buck and husband Mike oversaw all of the renovations, “which included lots of help from friends,” she said. “We were hoping to have it done earlier than we did, but I’m glad we’re done before tax season started.”
The work was finished by mid-December and B’s opened its doors then.
Buck offers income tax preparation, payroll and other services geared to owners of small businesses.
For the past 10 years, Buck worked for the late Phil Garner at Garner Compu-Account. She decided to branch out on her own as Garner’s health declined.
“Phil’s parents, who have been wonderful to work with, gave me his customer files after he died,” Buck said.
Some clients, accustomed to Buck’s eye for detail, have remained. “In any case, if they want their files I can give them back,” she said.
Buck has spent nearly all of her adult life dealing with financial records as an accountant or bookkeeper.
She got her start on her 18th birthday when she went to work for the Internal Revenue Service in Kansas City, a job she kept for three years.
The job — she mainly focused on data transfers and processing tax returns — gave her a keen insight into how the government operates.
“Most people have this tremendous fear of being audited,” she said.
Invariably, audits stem from a wide discrepancy in a person’s income from year to year, she explained.
“If you’re making $25,000 one year and $150,000 the next, the government may want to know why,” she said.
A desire to return closer to her hometown in Iola led Buck away from the IRS and back into the private sector.
“I just kept piling up bookkeeping jobs,” she said, which led to an encounter with Garner at his business.
“I had to bring some papers by, and one thing led to another,” she said. “I was just in the right place in the right time and he offered me a job.”
She figured she’d help for a single tax season. “Then three weeks turned into 10 years,” she said.
She chose to open B’s at 1205 East St. because of its location, within blocks of the U.S. 169 bypass and amid some of the city’s most rapid economic growth.
“I’m certain being this visible will help,” she said. “Plus, we have ample parking in front and back. The building needed a lot of work, but it fit our needs perfectly.”
Assisting Buck will be her husband and Leah Stout, a former colleague at Garner Compu-Account.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to do everybody’s tax return for them as soon as they walk through the door and have it done before they leave,” she said, “but that’s our goal.”
Buck’s tax season hours begin Monday. She’ll be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and on Sundays by appointment only. For more information, call 365-3900.

IN TAKING over for the Peterses, the Shaughnessys know they have a tradition to uphold.
“They were so well-established, and people grew used to their friendly service,” Lindsey noted. “That’s want we want to maintain. We want you to feel comfortable when you walk in the door.”
“They’ve been great to work with,” Lindsey said of the Peterses. “Doris is still coming in to help us until we get more comfortable.”
They chose the name “O’Shaughnessy’s” to give the business an Irish flavor, Brian explained.
The Shaughnessys will offer weekly specials on assorted spirits. “Whatever we get on sale, our customers will get on sale,” Lindsey said.
They’ll also take special orders.
“We’re learning quite a bit about the business,” Lindsey said.
“It’s exciting to be in this part of town,” Brian said. “Our goal was to have a business in our hometown where you know everybody. We’re here to serve Iola.”
O’Shaughnessy’s is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 8 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 365-5702.