Mostly Windows
David Mahr
David Mahr’s father, Bill, opened a carpet store called, “The Carpet Company,” on South Mission in 1984. Son David worked with his father in the store from the very first day. Three years later, his mother, Diana, and her business partner, Charleen Sharp rented another storefront in the same building and began selling window coverings under the name, “Mostly Windows.” In 1998, The Mahr’s bought the building at 110 N. Main and combined both businesses at that location. “They chose to keep the name, “Mostly Windows” because that was my mother’s preference,” said David Mahr, “and the store has been here on Main ever since.” Charleen Sharp is no longer part of Mostly Windows, but she continues to consult closely with them.
“Mom and Pop” shops come and go in Fallbrook just like everywhere else, so it is heartening when a family business is successful in our town for decades and across generations. David has been running the store since the passing of his father and his mother’s retirement. “In a small town, it doesn’t take long for word to get around about a business. We keep our doors open by making sure we have good prices, good installers and good service, “David explained.
The Mahr family roots in Fallbrook date back to 1919 when grandfather Harold moved here. Generations of the Mahr’s have been successful business owners in Fallbrook over the last 100 years. In the early 1930’s David’s grandfather ran Mahr’s Texaco and Auto Supply in the building that is now the Main St. Café. A great uncle started Mahr Ranch off Live Oak Park in 1948. Uncle Eddie opened Texaco and Foodmart on East Mission. There was Texaco and Towing, Mahrs Tire and Auto and a cousin owned Sheri’s Flowers on E. Mission
The Mahr family owned the property where the emblematic fig tree grows on Ammunition Road near Albertsons next to the Carl’s Jr. Planted more than 100 years ago, the enormous tree was already large in the 1920’s when the Mahr boys and the neighboring Clemmens boys played marbles in the shade under the canopy. A century ago, the tree was protected as a condition of any sale. An icon of that fig tree was the logo on the original business card for The Carpet Company.
“I love Fallbrook for the peacefulness”, said David. “When you are young, there is plenty to do here. It is a great place to be a kid. When you are a teenager though, all you want to do is leave, and I did. I lived lots of places and commuted back to Fallbrook every day for the store. But, one day I realized that Fallbrook is a special place. It is our own little bubble and that is when I moved back.”
