Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990 TAG: 9004110419
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"I depend on them completely," said Gladys Moore of Christiansburg. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
Moore is one of the many elderly or disabled customers who rely on the store's free deliveries. Several said they did not know how they would shop when Angle's closes sometime in the next three months.
Last month, the market's owners agreed to sell to Montgomery County the buildings that house the store, several other businesses and eight apartments. The $565,000 purchase gives the county more parking and the potential to expand county offices.
Closing date of the sale is July 1.
Angle's is the only supermarket in the county that delivers, said Jack Trump, one of the owners. The store also offers another rarity nowadays: credit accounts.
"It's going to hurt us real bad," said Beatrice Hall, a customer for 45 years. Hall said she had no transportation and would have to rely on a friend to take her shopping unless another supermarket began deliveries.
Angle's made 101 deliveries in a recent week, Trump said, although he wasn't certain how many of those homes had more than one delivery.
Trump said the owners are not trying to find another location for the store. Three of the five - the others are Fred Graham, J. Wilton and Charles W. Page and Charles Frank Page Jr. - are close to retirement age.
The store employs about 20 people.
Trump's customers apparently weren't the only people displeased about the sale. Trump said in interviews Monday and Tuesday that he was unhappy about the price.
"All we got is the value for the property," he said. "This business meant nothing to the Board of Supervisors after 62 years."
Trump showed a reporter a draft of a letter addressed to Graham. It said, in part:
"You are hereby advised that the Board of Supervisors shall use their right of eminent domain and proceed with the condemnation of the Angle's Building Partnership property if an agreement acceptable to both parties is not worked out immediately."
The letter, which was not on county stationery and was unsigned, was dated March 20. The sale agreement was reached March 26.
Despite the letter, it was not at all clear Trump and the other owners were forced to sell.
Trump acknowledged that such a letter would provide the sellers a tax break by giving them more time to reinvest proceeds of the sale.
Another owner, J. Wilton Page, said he was satisfied with the sale and, as far as he knew, so were his partners.
And Rodney Crowgey, who represented the sellers in the sale, said the agreement was purely voluntary.
"Angle's has served their community well for a number of years," he said. "They found a buyer who was willing to meet their terms, entered into an agreement voluntarily to sell their lands, and they chose to go out of business.
"It's sad that it is the end of an era, but it's reality."
Ann Hess, chairwoman of the county Board of Supervisors, said she could not recall the board ever discussing using eminent domain to force the sale.
County Administrator Betty Thomas referred questions about the letter to Roy Thorpe, the county attorney. Thorpe declined to comment for publication.
County officials said the Main Street businesses and the residents above them all had short-term leases. Monday night, several supervisors suggested giving the business owners a little more time to find a new location if they need it.
Owen Linkous, who runs Bill's Barber Shop, said he has been looking for a new shop. "A little more time would help us, if we can get it."
Thomas said the county cannot do the same for the apartment residents because the buildings do not offer access for the handicapped - a requirement if the county were the landlord.
by CNB