Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990 TAG: 9005170376
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
And so went the calls for about five hours Wednesday as every piece of equipment - all the fixtures, stock and souvenirs - went on the block at Angle's grocery store on East Main Street.
It was a complete liquidation of the 62-year-old business, ending an era of home deliveries, meats cut to order and personal charge accounts.
But, contrary to what people might think, it wasn't a sad day.
"You can't wipe the smile off my face!" said 62-year-old Frank Page, one of Angle's five owners. "I've been here for over 50 years and it's time to go."
About 200 New River Valley residents were scrambling to buy a small piece of history - butcher blocks, butcher knives, bubble gum machines, signs that said "Meat" and signs that designated aisles.
One woman accidentally pulled a couple of ancient pressure cookers onto her head from atop an old shelf, but she wasn't hurt.
Following auctioneer Larry Linkous up and down the aisles were bargain hunters, including Travis Price, co-owner of the Shoppe Smart grocery in Narrows. He was there to buy shelves.
Lowell Wade, owner of Wade's and Radford Brothers supermarkets, was buying all kinds of equipment - reach-in coolers, produce display stands and such - to use in his stores.
"Angle's was good competition," Wade said. "They did a good business and we're hoping we'll get some of it. But I do hate to see good competition leave."
Stan Davis, owner of Eats Natural Foods in Blacksburg, got an old Brach's candy display stand to shelve his bulk foods. He also bought racks, shelves and other fixtures.
Big money went for produce stands and refrigeration compressors, some selling for $1,250. Joe Raines, who owns a produce stand in Christiansburg, bought one and considered it a good deal.
So did other shoppers who won the bids on fire extinguishers for $10 each, snow shovels, a light-bulb changer - that went for a measly $3 - cash registers, brooms, security mirrors, ice machines, tubs and crocks, shopping carts, brown-paper grocery bags and a time clock.
"Some of this stuff is going awfully cheap," said Angle's co-owner Fred Graham, 61, who started at the store 44 years ago. "But I guess that's the way it goes."
People didn't even scrounge through the many boxes of stuff, deciding instead to just bid in the dark, almost like one of those grab-bag surprises.
Old customers sat on top of the conveyor belts at the check-out counters just taking in the hectic scene.
Jon Halberstadt, who works in real estate, said Angle's closing was like losing family.
"In the larger food stores and in the chains, the personal touch is missing," he said. "At Angle's, there's always a smile and that makes the system work."
Even Harold Linkous, the mayor of Christiansburg, breezed in for a last look.
"Angle's is an institution and landmark this town's gonna miss," said Linkous, a shopper there for 30 years. "This is the last locally owned independent market in the area."
The only ones who have been at the store longer than Frank Page are his brothers, Wilton and Wilbert, 69-year-old twins who spent 58 years at Angle's.
"I have mixed feelings about leaving," said Wilbert Page. "I'm going to miss our friends and the older people. I hope we've helped out over the years."
The Page family has been in the grocery business for more than 100 years. Their father was one of the original partners.
"I was pretty much raised in this grocery store," Wilbert Page said. "But I'm not sad. Personally, I'm tickled and I'm ready to retire."
Angle's closing was forced when Montgomery County in March decided to purchase several downtown buildings for $565,000, including Angle's and several other longtime businesses.
The county will likely convert some of the buildings into offices and use some of the property for parking, according to county officials.
Jack Trump, the youngest of Angle's owners at 52, has been there for 33 years. He said it might be the right time to sell because "finding good help, like meat cutters, is just too hard anymore."
In the end, everything was sold. The Page brothers, who said the money raised will be divided evenly among the owners, agreed there was probably at least half a million dollars worth of stuff.
The owners even bought some things for themselves.
The glass "Angle's Meat-Groceries" sign, which has been hanging above the popular meat department since 1929, was bought by Graham for $600.
by CNB