We had the extreme pleasure of sitting down with Sam Sprague, who owns Micano Home.

Sam was one of the founders of the Midtown District and has quite the story of how he became a successful store owner and artist in Midtown.

"My real name is Calvin Sprague.

Born in Fernley NV 1963

Education- no formal education

For 15 years, I was a manager at Custom Truck, designing buildings and logos. One day a woman walked in and asked who designed the store . When I told her I did, she said I was a linear genius and that I was wasting my time there. After meeting with her, she said I was wasting my time and should do something with my talent. I opened Micano Home in the months after that in 2003. Micano is an abbreviation for Americana. I got the idea after living in Egypt, where people would say to go get the Americano. Micano Home.

In 2004, Chis from Sushi Pier, Tammy from Chocolate Walrus, and myself starting having meetings, we wanted to have a wine walk. But we needed a name. Chris mentioned the bar behind my store named Midtown Bar. We borrowed the name - Midtown and added District. We started having meetings at Sushi Pier 2. Raul, from El Adobe, and The Jessica from

Junkees were some of the first faces there. By 2005, we had a name and the vibe. In 2007 -2008, I took a job at Costco working from 5am to 11, then I'd ride my vintage moped to Midtown. I also saw Troy - from Junkees riding his motorized bike, and we became friends. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the movement that started the biggest Reno neighborhood shopping corridor in Reno. We had given the city a place to call ours. Ace Hardware moved to Midtown. Most of us became the original board members and we started having functions.

My store changed , in 2008 from a store to a maker store. My sister had walked on Dec 2007 and said, "the coolest things in here is the art you made," That was the biggest moment of my stores life. The next day, I threw away 30 grand worth of inventory, mostly dark African art and Mexican art, both too cultural for Reno.

The biggest contributors to my store have been all the unsung friends who have unselfishly given their time to help me. Three of my best friends died during the period of helping me, sometimes helping me through the toughest times of my life. Just to see me make it. If I owe anyone it's my friends for being so unselfish, if I have one skill that stands out. It might not be my optimism, my crazy work ethic, or my ability to dream things into reality. It might be my ability to make friends, that are willing to help someone with a dream - to out blue collar artist on Main street .

Love my friends."

Debbie McCarthy / About Town Deb

Creatives Talk PodcastBy Tina Mokuau and Dana Nöllsch with Reno Arts News.Apr 05, 2024