ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610280013
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: NARROWS
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
Jean Deeds stood inside the five-and-dime store she and her husband have owned and operated in Narrows for almost 26 of its 53 years in business. Her well-practiced smile was as bright as the surrounding lights and decorations as she greeted customers.
But these are not happy days at B&B Stores Inc., long a shopping destination for people throughout Giles County and Monroe County, W.Va.
Deeds and her husband, Lowell, will soon close the store, and Narrows, which has witnessed a slow decline since its railroad boom days at the turn of the century, will lose another part of its soul and gain another empty store front.
The store is one of the last remaining links to the town's heyday, to a time of graciousness and neighborliness for which many small Southern towns are known.
The Deedses haven't seen a profit in four or five years and are a victim of changing times. It's the big discount stores, a declining local population and more mobile people that have done them in, they say.
"Business has fallen off," said Lowell Deeds, 67. "People shop different than they used to. It's happening all over the the country. It's not just Narrows."
"Things have changed so much in the last few years," said Russie Deeds, Lowell's father. He managed a sister store in Pearisburg for 30 years until its 1991 closing and still helps out in the Narrows store when Lowell and Jean are on vacation. "Everybody loves to travel. Everybody loves to get in the car and go over to Blacksburg. It's a changing world, and the small man has no chance at all," Russie Deeds said.
Still, the owners say they are leaving with warm feelings.
"We just feel like we have gained a lot of good relations and good friends," said Jean Deeds, 65. She knows of people "who tell us their trip [to Narrows] is not complete unless they've been to B&B Stores, and that makes us feel good. They're just like family. We're going out with real happiness because our customers know we've served them for 53 years. We just have a good feeling about that."
The store, named for the original owners, is like many old-time five-and-dime stores, where items could be had for small coins. It carries a standard array of general merchandise, ranging from personal care items to hardware. But the Deedses have added several unique touches. They have a wide selection of Christmas decorations and artificial flowers - items that always have a use and never go out of style. Their toys are stocked low to the floor so children can play with them in the aisles.
The store had a soda fountain and lunch counter, and when the town had a downtown theater, customers could buy fresh popcorn and roasted peanuts. The Deedses also have sold fishing licenses and took United Parcel Service deliveries.
"We did everything to try to keep up our flow of traffic" said Lowell Deeds, who began working for B&B Stores as a seventh-grader. "Basically, you still have to have a good selection of merchandise at the right price. Basically, we haven't changed. The other businesses probably have."
The Deedses say they have learned a few things along the way.
"I've learned that most people want your love and concern for them and your respect for them," Jean Deeds said. "I've also learned the years go by so fast."
Lowell Deeds said he has learned to "sell as cheap as you can and carry twice the stock you should."
Residents and customers are already feeling nostalgic about the Deedses and their store, which the owners will close when they have sold off their remaining stock. They are looking for a buyer for the building but have not found one.
"It's sad to see another store closing. You know the people who are running the store, and they're your neighbor, and it's hard on the town to lose another business," said Cornelia Smith, a member of the Giles County Historical Society and unofficial Narrows historian.
"It's the only place to shop [in Narrows]. It's a friendly place, and you can usually find what you want," said Eloise Ratcliff, a town resident for all her life, who was in the store recently with her grandson.
"I was just telling [Lowell Deeds] maybe we didn't support it like we should, but we'll miss it," said another customer, Linda Frazier of Narrows, who was shopping with her daughter and sister.
The spectre of dwindling support has visited virtually every business in Narrows. Once a vibrant town with a population that topped 2,500, Narrows, named for the tight spot where the nearby New River flows between Peters and East River mountains, saw its heyday when the Norfolk and Western Railroad and Virginian Railroads came through 90 years ago. Then, in 1939, the Celco Plant opened only a few miles away, and U.S. 460 was built on the other side of the river to provide access to it. Traffic through Narrows' downtown plummeted, never to recover. In time, the theater, hardware store, pharmacy, furniture store and others all closed.
"Once the highway was moved, people had to make an effort to come to Narrows, so it's the story of a lot of little towns across America. We're no different in that regard," Smith said.
But the town's spirit hasn't been broken.
"We're really taking steps to do something. We've got a really progressive council, and they're trying to do something for this little blue-collar town." said Mike Kirby, town manager.
Narrows has received a $700,000 letter of intent from Gov. George Allen to fund a small-business incubator in one on the vacated buildings downtown. The incubator, where businesses would share equipment like fax and copier machines, would be a good home for firms that do business with the Hoechst-Celanese Corp.'s Celco Plant, spinoff firms from Virginia Tech or Radford University, or for light manufacturing, art galleries or other uses, Kirby said.
"Anything we can do to turn downtown around, that's our effort," he said.
Other downtown projects include facade renovations, sidewalk work and the installation of old-time street lights.
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: B&B Stores Inc., has long been a shopping destinationby CNBfor people throughout Giles County and Monroe County, W.Va.