An addition here, a facelift there, a porch added, an extra room removed. You’d expect a few changes to have taken place in the century that the South Store has stood at the corner of Scholls Ferry Road and the Hillsboro Highway. However, through the years, one thing has remained constant, the South Store has been a community gathering place. Where once people came to stock up on canned coffee and sacks of flour, they now come for cappuccinos and cinnamon rolls, soup and sandwiches. The faces have changed, but farmers still stop by to complain about the weather and hazelnut prices over cups of coffee. You're just as likely, though, to bump into a garden designer, electrical engineer, artist, writer or winemaker.
Opened around 1903 as a combination general store and meeting hall for the local chapter of the Independent Order of the Oddfellows, the South Store got its name as a way of differentiating it from the North Store, which was located a mile to the north. While today the North Store, now known as Petrich's Store, is still a well-stocked general store, the South Store has become a café serving the best espresso, pastries, soups and sandwiches for miles around. As far back as the 1940s, there was a soda fountain at the South Store. That was back in the days when the Bunnell family ran the store, and there were dances and pinochle games up on the second floor. Later, in the 1960s, there was a sandwich counter at the back of the store. Today, the tradition of serving food to the residents of the Scholls community continues at the South Store. The café has been owned and operated by the Morgan-Thompson family since 2007.
