Mike Franklin didn’t set out to run a restaurant, microbrewery, general store and toy shop. It just ended up that way.

The owner of Hyattsville mainstay Franklins was on the “Kojo Nnamdi Show” this week for a segment about D.C. area businesses that incorporate more than one use. Franklin said he started the business 27 years ago.

“It was a hardware store that was not doing well,” he said. “I bought the building and then said, ‘Hey, what am I going to do with it?'”

Franklins initially started as a general store with a deli in the back. After a decade, it expanded, adding the brewpub next door. The store sold a little bit of everything, and then added more of what worked — which is how it ended up with a wall of different hot sauces among a list of other things.

“What’s fun about our place is we don’t really have a corporate mission other than selling what the people want to buy, so we’re not restricted to any category like you were if you were a store in the mall,” he said.

Franklin said he’s not surprised to see more multi-use businesses, like Tanglewood Works, Suffragette City and My Dead Aunt’s Books sharing space across the street.

Another secret to Franklins success: the store has a long-running program where local nonprofits can receive 20 percent of the proceeds if they direct their supporters to shop there on a specific Monday or Tuesday. Franklin told Nnamdi that it’s raised a half million dollars over the years through these fundraisers.

You can listen to Franklins’ full interview with Nnamdi here.