THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411050086
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFFE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
The building at 119 N. Main St. at downtown's busiest intersection - is about to get a face lift, and the restoration will turn the 1920s-era structure into a two-story dining establishment called the Main Street Eatery.
G. Landon Browning, 52, the Virginia Beach businessman who bought the building, says he plans casual family dining on the first floor and an upscale lounge, dining area and banquet facilities on the second.
Downstairs also will offer a retail area for gourmet coffees and teas, homemade bread and pastries, frozen yogurts and gourmet chocolates.
``I think it is wonderful, interesting,'' said Nanci Drake, director of Downtown Development.
Winning Edge Sports, the sports equipment and apparel store, has left the building and moved to Second Avenue.
Browning said he will restore the building to its original condition ``to the extent we are able and to the extent the code allows.'' Some of the bricks under wall board have proven to be too deteriorated for preservation, he said.
Browning is president of Flexible Benefit Administrators Inc. of Virginia Beach, a company that offers consumers several insurance plans that they pay for with pre-tax money.
The building was constructed in about 1920, Browning said.
According to Drake, Browning plans this outlet as a model for others.
``In a couple of years, he plans to open others in other small cities,'' she said.
Browning comes from a small town of about 50 people.
``My father ran the country store. I want to get back to small-town America,'' he said.
His grown son and daughter and a friend will run the establishment, which will be open from about 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., serving all three meals. Browning said he will hire as many as 30 full-time employees, who will work in shifts to keep the restaurant humming.
His son, G. Landon ``Lanny'' Browning Jr., is a Ferrum College graduate with a degree in business.
Daughter Traci Gingerich graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in marketing.
The third person involved in the business is Muriel Frashier, who has a masters degree in government and statistics.
Renovation work is expected to begin by the first of next year, with completion scheduled for mid-summer, Browning said. Because the architects have only just begun drawing up plans, Browning said he was unprepared to say how much the work will cost.
Even though the architectural plans are not ready, Browning estimates seating will be about 75 downstairs and 100 upstairs, not counting the banquet facilities.
The bill of fare: Breakfasts will consist, among other things, of gourmet coffees and teas, bakery items, bagels, sticky buns, croissants and several varieties of fat-free breads.
Lunches will include gourmet sandwiches, soups and salads. ``And killer desserts,'' Browning said. ``We will also have a line of sugar-free items.''
Upstairs dining with white tablecloths will include four or five entrees, he said. Plus a cappuccino bar.
Winning Edge Sports, a Franklin staple since 1989, had been at 119 N. Main but moved when its owner learned Browning had bought the building.
The sports equipment and apparel store has moved to 115 W. Second Ave., in spaces formerly occupied by Williams' Florist.
Winning Edge also has had an outlet in Suffolk at 412 N. Main St. for about a year.
``We knew the florist's building was empty,'' said Ray F. Carter, an outside saleswoman for the store.
While she and owner Marilyn A. Dull had wanted to reopen near the bowling alley in a shopping center west of downtown, Carter said, there was no vacancy that fit their needs.
But now they like the building they are in, Carter said, ``even though it is nowhere as big as what we had.''
She estimates her space at about 1,500 square feet, compared to 8,000 in the old building.
Moving has meant having to split inventory between the two stores and her home, Carter said.
Customers are likely to like the new building better, too, she said: There is more parking.
Besides athletic equipment and apparel, the store also sells trophies, plaques and embroidered lettering. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
W.N. Bunch, at right, tags hats at the Winning Edge Sports store.
The sports equipment and apparel business has vacated the building
on N. Main Street, above, and has moved to 115 W. Second Ave. The
old building will be renovated into a two-story restaurant called
The Main Street Eatery.
by CNB