An 84th location is scheduled to open in Weston in Lewis County, W.Va. in April 2011.
The Harts location was originally built by Jimmy & Faye Adkins in the 1970s, and was known as Duane's Variety Store until it was purchased in 1985 by Ray & Charlotte Smith, who expanded the store, and renamed it Smith's Handi-Mart. [image-nocss] The store provided goods for many years to the Harts community until it was destroyed by a fire in November 2007. Plans were made to rebuild the store in 2009.
"We are very excited about opening a Little General Store in the Harts Community, and welcome the residents of the Harts Area to stop by and check us out," Little General Store's director of retail, Brian Waugh said. "We also welcome back the former customers of Smith's Handi-Mart to the Little General Family. We would like to thank the Smith Family for everything they've done over the years in the Harts Area with their business. Located within our existing territory, this location had been known for providing quality customer service with a strong tie to the Harts Creek Community for many years. We look forward to meeting the shopping needs of the people of Harts, Ferrellsburg, Green Shoals, Toney, Atenville, Ranger and surrounding areas for many years to come by offering everything to everyone."
He added, "This location will also have movie rentals, an ATM, New River Coffee and everyday value on staples such as grocery, pop, snacks, beer, sandwiches, cigarettes and tobacco. We look forward to leveraging our strengths and operating capability to further expand the Little General business model to the residents of the Harts Area, Lincoln County and in Southern West Virginia Coalfields."
Little General Store also acquired a freestanding Subway restaurant on March 16 in Webster Springs, W.Va.
Beckley, W.Va.-based Little General Store Inc., owned by Cory Beasley and Greg Darby, is an 83-location convenience store chain with 81 stores in West Virginia and two stores in Virginia. The company also is a franchisee for 31 Subways, 15 Godfather's Pizza's, 11 Sam's Hot Dog Stands, seven Burger King's, five Arby's, four Taco Bell's, three Krispy Krunchy Chicken Stands, two Steak Escape's and the 79er Restaurant located off Interstate 79 in Burnsville, W.Va. Including the 15 freestanding foodservice locations, the company now operates a total of 98 locations.
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