too. “The Arnalls have good credit,” he said, “you don’t want to mess up a good thing.” Thinking of his father, Jimmy Beavers says, “My daddy was raised behind a mule. He loved farming.” The senior Beavers always counseled his sons to leave work behind at the end of the day. “Daddy was really good at that,” he adds. “When he went home at night he didn’t think one bit about Arnall Grocery. He turned it off and worked his land and livestock.”
A New Start
As citizens of a country founded only two-anda-third centuries ago, Americans tend to esteem
the buildings and businesses that have weathered the decades and survived the economic tumult of
capitalism’s long bubbles and sudden bursts. From a
global perspective, it’s a fact that what new-world types call historic is no more than adolescent compared to the centuries-old structures of Europe and Africa. In
the United Kingdom, public houses trace their histories through millennia while bartenders pull another pint for starry-eyed Western tourists without a second
thought for the past and its enchantments. It’s rare
for independent American businesses to linger. More than half of American small businesses shutter their
doors within four years. Few make it to 10, and those
that survive 20 are considered old indeed. So it is that we take pause to celebrate Newnan’s oldest retail
storefront – Arnall Grocery, 32 East Washington St. – as it turns 145 this year.
THE CREW
Employees of Jimmy and Pam Beavers (seated) are, from left, Charles Hunter, Henry Vaughn, Austin Binion and Kale Abercrombie.
34 | www.newnancowetamag.com
In 1976, the Beavers bought the present day facility conveniently located on the railroad line that delivered so much of their merchandise. The original Perry Street location was used as a warehouse facility until it burned down. The Arnall family donated the property to the city of Newnan. Today, the Ellis Arnall Parking lot sits on that land. The building that houses the current incarnation of Arnall Grocery Company has its own storied history. Formerly the home of another prosperous wholesale grocery enterprise, H.V. Kell, the two-story brick building was erected in 1932 and housed a state-of-the-art, walk-in cooler that may have been the largest in the state of Georgia at that time. The wooden Otis elevator still functions, powered by its original 1932 motor. In Georgia, the only one older operates at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, built in 1929. Few renovations diminish the sense of history at Arnall Grocery, as Beavers points out original beams and the salvaged remains of a steel-girded conveyor system that once ferried bulk orders to and from the railroad dock. Beavers says he doesn’t even notice the train whistle anymore, nor does he use the railway. “Orders out of Macon would take two weeks by rail, but a day by truck,” he says. Integral shifts like this have kept the business alive. As clients’ needs have changed, Arnall Grocery has changed. “We’ve been blessed,” Beavers says as he tells the story of his one job, spanning tasks from dock labor for 75 cents an hour to those of sole owner and operator. “We’ve had loyal employees,” Beavers adds as he shares stories about Henry Vaughn and Charlie Hunter, who have been with the company for decades. Pam Beavers recalls an early morning Henry ran all the way from Newnan Hospital on Jackson Street despite a policeman’s request that he stay at the scene of an accident. “Charlie’s been in a wreck, Ms. Pam,” he reported, “but I told the officer that you were opening the store soon and I couldn’t let you do that alone.” “We’re like family,” Pam says. “We’ve been through a lot together.” Customer loyalty is just as palpable. “We lost a customer the other day,” Jimmy Beavers says with a shake of his head. Most businesses lose customers to the competition, but at Arnall Grocery the loss tends to be more personal and irreparable. “He was 96. Traded with us all his life.” NCM