The Corner Store: Moving Day 2000
It is clearly a fact that the Corner Store Garden Center is not located on a corner. The building and grounds may be close to the intersection of Routes 607 and 29, but it’s Sheetz that occupies the corner. So…what’s the story behind the garden center’s name?
Up until 2000, the Corner Store was perfectly named because it was located where Sheetz is now. You can read more about the earlier history of The Corner Store here and here. The general store version of the Corner Store was the same building you currently visit, but was located just where the Sheetz building is now, along with a couple of gas pumps and parking in the front.
From the time Ronnie Lamm and Hampton Burnett took over the store in the ‘60s through Len Lamm’s management, the Ruckersville area boomed. As the region developed, the prime location of the store became more and more valuable—drawing interest from bigger players.
“First we were talking with Virginia Oil Company about leasing the land,” said Len Lamm. “We said that moving the store had to be part of the deal and they weren’t sure they were willing to do that. They had never leased any land, so they were back and forth.”
An unexpected visitor
While those discussions were stalled out, an unexpected visitor came by the store. “I can remember, it was a Wednesday and I was standing behind the register,” said Len, “We had the deli in the back, and this guy walks in with a briefcase at 12:10, and I'm thinking to myself, ‘What salesman comes in at lunchtime in a grocery store with a deli to try to sell something.’ It's just not something you do.”
“He just waited till it cleared off, and then he said, ‘I'm going to make this quick. I know this is bad timing but I'm in the area. I've heard that you're interested in doing something with your corner, and we are very interested. So here is something to consider. Just take it, look at it, and give us a call back. We're from Sheetz.’"
Len had never heard of Sheetz, and didn’t quite know what to make of the interaction, but the beer delivery driver, Kevin Via, happened to be in the store…and he knew Sheetz. “He could hear the conversation, and he was wheeling the beer down through the aisle to the cooler. When the guy said ‘Sheetz’ Kevin stopped, backed up, smiled, and gave me a big thumbs up,” laughed Len. “Then the rest was history. Their first lease proposal was far more, not even close to the Virginia Oil offer.” In fact, the Virginia Oil representative told Len that he’d be crazy not to take the Sheetz deal.
Len and Ronnie laid their cards on the table during the first meeting with Sheetz, "Thank y'all for coming, but we don't want to waste a lot of time. We're interested in leasing and want to discuss that a little bit more, but there is one deal-breaker. We are not willing to tear down the Corner Store. We are going to move the building or the deal is off."
The Sheetz negotiator answered without hesitation, "No problem." He took out a different set of papers, and said, "Here we go."
As with any real-estate project there were challenges. VDOT did not want to approve the entrance off of 607, but Sheetz was adamant that there had to be a way get traffic in and out. Fortunately, Ronnie had always kept that entrance opened, so the right of way was grandfathered in. “Dad was often asked to close off that entrance over the years, but he never did and that was one smart move. Because if we had ever closed it off, you'd never get it back,” said Len.
Moving the building
Once the deal was completed, preparation for the move began by setting up the new building foundation. “We got Harlow Brothers to lay the block. Jessie Harlow came in and measured, then their team dug it out and perfectly set the foundation blocks,” remembers Len.
Expert Movers of Virginia Beach were engaged to move the store. “I remember walking in with the guy, and I still had all the shelves in and stuff on the shelves,” said Len. “I told him we’d get everything packed up before the move. He looked at me and he said, ‘Young man, you pack up anything you want, but if you put a glass of water right here and I spill it, I've not done my job, because the building would fall apart, so it's going to look like it's moving, but the whole time, it's level.’"
“It took them about three days,” Len recalls. “They just jacked it up, put all these big, ginormous wheels on it. They pulled it, moving around like an S—first towards the mountain, then back again up the slope, and then pulled it in position and lowered it right down.”
“When the driver was done, he told Dad ‘I want my check or I'm going to pull it back.’ They were some rough boys and I think he meant it, but Dad had the check that Sheetz had written right there in his pocket,” said Len. “The movers got their money and the store was just as they said. I didn't pack up a thing. Nothing fell, nothing, not one thing. We had canned goods on the shelf and not one on the floor.”
Now, after two decades perched on the hill, the Corner Store Garden Center remains an iconic reminder of Ruckersville’s past. Those fortunate enough to visit the store before 2018 were always greeted by Ronnie Lamm’s welcoming smile as he sat in the rocker by the door. Today, the garden center fully embraces the future with the latest locally-grown plant selections, high-quality garden tools, organic fertilizers and an ever-expanding curated gift selection. And so much more to come. Stay tuned!