DOERUN — As a Doerun resident with a business in Moultrie, Sam Null drove by the long-closed Doerun Hardware building more times than he can count over the past three years.

One day the “For Sale” sign beckoned to him, and as he put his hands to the glass and peered into the dimly lit brick structure on the city’s main street, he could envision the future home for Heritage Embroidery & Design. With the purchase of the building, Null and wife Becky considerably increased their real estate holdings in the town whose population is a little less than 800.

“I drove by the place hundreds of times,” Sam Null said. “We got a hold of the owner, James Walters. We could just see the potential in this building for what we wanted to do.”

What he saw was a location for office, showroom space, big embroidery equipment, and in the back the couple found space for him to set up a studio for oil painting and his passion for making primitive furniture using old wood. The 5,600-square-foot building dwarfed the 1,200 square feet of space they had in the Moultrie location.

The new location for Heritage will join the other 21 businesses along Broad Avenue that include a locally owned grocery, hardware and tire stores as well as a pharmacy and restaurant. It also has chain stores Dollar General and Family Dollar.

Along with the move and keeping up with customers’ orders during the transition, Sam Null is building a wall for the office using large boards and rusting tin from an old barn.

Heritage, which was formed 23 years ago and was located in downtown Moultrie, will soon celebrate its third anniversary of ownership by the Nulls, who purchased it in May 2013 from founders Jim and Harvie Ann Cox.

Because their business is not heavily dependent on walk-in traffic and their child is a student at Doerun Elementary, the move made sense, said Becky Null, a former teacher of 13 years who taught in Doerun for seven of those years.

“I do love this community,” she said. “I didn’t grow up in Doerun, but I grew up in Anderson City. My dad would encourage my sister, when she was 14, to drive us to the video store in Doerun and the convenience store. We all want to see Doerun thrive.”

The business, which focuses on embroidery and business promotions, does a lot of business with the agriculture community in Southwest Georgia, but also has customers in Atlanta and as far away as Alaska and California. A lot of their business comes from word of mouth.

“We had a customer in Arizona who was a vegetable distributor,” Becky Null said. “Another vegetable distributor asked him who does your promotions, and he told him about us.”

Another part of their business is providing drink koozies and cups for weddings and they are looking to begin offering wedding packages.

“We do pretty much anything you can think of for promotions,” Sam Null said.

Though there are three employees at the moment — production manager Kyle Ricks; Ray Ivey, marketing, inside sales and receptionist; and Jessica Haman — the Nulls see it growing.

“We’ve got room now to run another machine, and (hire) another employee,” Sam Null said. “We want to get a sales rep out there.”

Doerun Mayor George Saunders said the city also is “delighted” to have the new enterprise located within its city limits.

“We’re tickled to death,” he said. “We just need some more of them. These days and time, businesses are not moving into (small towns). When you can get somebody to come in, that helps.

“We’re hoping it will be a plus to them and it will surely be a benefit to the city of Doerun.”

For Randall McCoy, a retired Windstream employee who owns a building downtown on the same block, it’s good to have the new neighbors.

“For me, for our main street, it’s just an uplift to our town,” he said. “I think truly it’s wonderful for someone to have enough faith in Doerun and spend the money and invest in Doerun. We’re alive, and we’re going to prosper.”