Hollywood nostalgia decorates walls

In one of the tiniest storefronts you’ll ever see is a new business in Deer Park, specializing in gifts, satellite internet, home theater and a bit of Hollywood nostalgia.

Mike Tyner and his wife, Marie Kukula Tyner opened 1,200 Miles From Hollywood, 17 N. Main, Deer Park, Nov. 7 after only three weeks of construction on the building.

Along with the high-tech home-theater items and gifts, the store has a display of memorabilia from Mike’s days as personal assistant and bodyguard to Tom Selleck.

There is a makeshift last will and testament written on a piece of notebook paper by Woody Harrelson and witnessed by Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson, dated June 17, 1987.

There are photos of Tyner with Ron and Nancy Reagan.

Tyner remembers that the late president didn’t like to talk about politics, but preferred to talk about westerns.

He also said that what impressed him most about the Reagans was that they always included him with his own invitation to events, such as the inaugural party in January 1985. He still has the invitation.

“That was the nice thing about the Reagan White House,” he said.

The couple have hanged framed tickets and programs to the Emmys or the Academy Awards on the walls.

There is a poster from the movie “The Unforgiven” signed by Clint Eastwood.

One of the items Marie is most proud of is a copy of the Hollywood Reporter commemorating the last episode of the “Tonight Show” hosted by Johnny Carson.

Marie worked as an assistant to the publisher of the magazine and managed to get an autographed copy.

“We take these out at night,” Marie said. She felt she could never replace that magazine, so she keeps it safe when the store is closed.

They said that they sold off much of their memorabilia, but still had a lot of it in boxes so they decided to hang it on the walls of their shop.

The shop also boasts many gift items from Marie’s Positive Energy Press, a line of gifts such as mugs, greeting cards, magnets and more featuring designs and positive sayings by Marie.

There is also a line of products featuring just one word in black letters on a white background on mugs, bookmarks and dog bowls such as, “genius,” or “loved.”

“The words that we think, speak and say – they have energy to them,” Mike said.

There is also a nice couch in front of a large flat-screen television with surround sound where customers can sit back and enjoy the technology for sale before they purchase it.

“We wanted to open a place where people could have fun,” Mike said.

The business’s only full-time employees are the Tyners, but they said they subcontract much of the installation work out to people in the community to which they moved from Southern California two years ago.

“We absolutely love this area,” Mike said of the Deer Park area.

“We wanted to be here as it started to grow,” said Marie.

The pair said they are passionate about investing in their community and hope that many other people in the area will start their own small businesses.

“We’re dreamers,” Marie said.

“Dreamers with a purpose,” Mike added.

They said that they don’t like going to big box stores and hope that many people will appreciate the homey atmosphere of the store. They added that since their overhead is low, they can offer prices the big stores can’t.

That, and Mike said that customers can come in and hear stories about his days working with Tom Selleck.

“I used to ice his back when he threw it out playing volleyball on the road,” he said.