Stephens Supply cuts back
In Fuquay-Varina, a Broad Street institution is scaling back its operation as the economy takes its toll on yet another local business.
Stephens Supply Co. will shut down two of its three divisions today.
The company has been operating for 75 years and began as a hardware and feed store, said CEO Wayne Carver.
Over the years, it added building supplies in a couple of warehouses behind the store and a lighting division across the street.
After today, only the hardware store - which is now an ACE and is at 405 Broad St. - will remain.
"We're going back to our roots," Carver said. "There's just not a lot of building activity right now."
The lighting center will be closed for a week and then begin a going-out-of-business sale on Thursday. The building supply business will simply close, with Stephens selling the materials back to vendors or to other companies.
After that, Stephens will look to lease both spaces plus an additional warehouse down the street. In all, it's more than 60,000 square feet of space.
The company's payroll will go from 55 to 15.
"We just decided that the duration of the downturn had been too long and we don't see any end to it," Carver said. "We just decided it was not practical to stick it out for the return" of the building business.
In Wake Forest, another independent business owner is trying to hang on.
Jimmy Keith operates the Keith's Service Station at 13041 Falls of Neuse Road, near the intersection with Old N.C. 98.
It has been in the Keith family for 75 years and was anExxon station until recently.
However, about a year ago, Keith had to take his gas tanks out of the ground and stop selling gas. Since then, business in his tiny store has dropped by almost half. Now with plans to reroute N.C. 98, Keith is afraid his business will suffer even more.
"We've got some old faithfuls," said Keith, who is 59. "But if you're not selling gas, people are not going to stop."
So, Keith is trying to boost sales by adding to his offerings.
He has reopened the lunch counter that used to operate behind the family store. It has been renamed JK's Lunch Room.
Buying closer to the main road, he says, is not an option.
"A store like this on a busy highway - there's no telling how much it would cost," he said. "We're just not willing to do that right now."
