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One Stop General Store on King William to close

Huntsville’s King William Street will lose a general store that has formed part of the downtown fabric under different names since 1970.

One Stop General Store owners Cory and Andrea Clarke took to social media last week to announce that they had been approached by an investor a couple of months ago and had sold the building.

Cory Clarke described the closure, which could happen as early as July despite a September closing date, as bittersweet. He said he would miss the regular clients he has gotten to know over the years and the staff in a place he likened to the old television show Cheers—a community hub of sorts, a place where everyone knows your name.

“We’ve been blessed over the years to have great long term staff. We discussed the decision with our staff and made the decision together that it was time to close the store. Some of our staff are ready to start enjoying retirement and a slower pace, so the timing of the decision is good,” he noted on the store’s Facebook site.

Clarke said several factors helped solidify the decision to sell, including the overregulation of the convenience store industry regarding tobacco and cigar sales and increased taxes, which has increasingly led customers of tobacco products to source those items from Reserves.

“Other factors were increased costs in the everyday aspects of running the business like payroll taxes, utility costs, and insurance. We also saw a large movement over the past 2 or 3 years of customers purchasing more products online, with customers moving away from in store purchases. This trend definitely affected our store, which has always been about the in store experience,” he noted.

He said it was a fun business to be in, particularly in the summer when people on holiday came in relaxed. “So it was a good time, good feel store, and that always made it a fun place to be when you’re working there,” he said. But the fun started to wane in the last couple of years, and when you’re struggling, it’s not fun anymore, said Clarke of the decision to sell, officially announced last week.

“Last week was definitely an emotional week for sure for me and out staff. A lot of our staff have been there for many, many years, so it’s kind of an emotional week just dealing with all the regular customers who are coming in and were sad to hear that we were closing.”

Clarke said discontinuing the business family decision is bittersweet, but he looks forward to slowing down a bit and taking more of the summers off—something he was unable to do with the business.

“We’d like to thank all our loyal customers who we’ve gotten to know over the years. Thank you for your loyalty, patronage, and allowing us to be successful for all these years. It’s been our pleasure to serve you,” posted the Clarkes on FB.

When asked about the new plans for the building, Clarke said he was not sure. However, the property has ample parking, with at least 14 spots at the back and about four in the front. “I’m sure that was one of the reasons why the purchasers went ahead with it,” he said.

Everything, except tobacco products and lottery tickets, has been marked 50 percent off, and the store is expected to close once the inventory has been sold.

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