LAUREL HILL — A rumor circulating has had some local residents believing the old Pate’s Grocery store in Laurel Hill was set to be demolished, but it’s not true.

“We took the awning off the building because it was damaged by a storm a little while back and it was a liability concern,” said David Burns, chairman of the board at Z.V. Pate. “The building is not going anywhere. We plan to put something back up in place of the damaged awning at some point.”

According to Burns, the grocery store was opened sometime in the 1920s or 1930s.

“I have been told it was a very active business during that time,” said Burns. “It had a meat market, fresh fruits and vegetables, basically all things involved in a grocery store.

“There was an office in the middle of the building where all the books were kept and paperwork handled and on the back end was a hardware,” added Burns. “It also housed the post office in the corner of the building for some time.

Burns also continued by saying the second story was used for storage.

Since the closing of the grocery store, the hardware located in the back was moved across the street into the furniture store where it is still located.

As the other supermarkets and Walmart moved into the area, according to Burns, the business began to decline.

“We continued operating for the last four to five years at a loss,” said Burns. “We tried everything we could think of to keep it going.

“I hated to close it, but we didn’t have any other choice,” continued Burns. “I can’t remember the exact year it was closed, but it has been quite some time.”

Burns continued by saying it has been at least 20 years since the store fully operated.

“The building is still in good shape,” said Burns. “We have maintained the roof and the interior is intact with a little wear and tear but nothing major.

“We would be happy to kick around some ideas of what the building could be used for,” continued Burns. “It could possibly be put back into service if we found a good purpose and use for it.

Burns said there is also another Pate-owned building — older and bigger than the one in Laurel Hill — located in Gibson.

“Now that store, in the early 1920s, maybe even teens was the largest store between Charlotte and Wilmington,” said Burns. “It would be nice to one day see them used for something again.”

JJ Melton can be reached at [email protected]. To support the Laurinburg Exchange, subscribe here: https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/subscribe.