Fair Bluff is looking forward to the ribbon cutting for its newly reopened grocery store next month, and residents are coming together Sunday to ask God’s blessings on the effort.
A community prayer service is set for Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the store parking lot. Alexis Douglas said all churches and denominations are welcome.
“The businesses in Fair Bluff are not only struggling but being divided,” she said. “We hope this grocery store not only stay but brings business to Fair Bluff. Also we are not going to be divided in heaven, so we need to start coming together while here on Earth!”
Rev. Trenton Ford of Williamsons Crossroads will lead the service, Douglas said. Parking is available at the store and at Johnny’s Drive-in.
The building has been closed for several years. After Hurricane Matthew, the store closed due to the declining population in the town. Dewey Hill, owner and founder of the Hills Supermarket chain, reopened the store in 2018,but it closed in 2019 due to a lack of customer traffic. The town then bought the property after Hill died in 2023.
Vimalbhai “Victor” Patel and Priyank Desai of Florence, S.C., are the owners and operators of the store. They currently own and run a similar grocery in Rowland, which has a population and customer base similar to Fair Bluff.
Fair Bluff leaders have aggressively pursued using state funding and grants to purchase, renovate and assist new businesses in the town since it was devastated twice by hurricanes and flooding in 2016 and 2018.
