Union City General Store: A community staple

Years ago, young and old would gather at the Union City store after hard work in the tobacco fields. 

Co-owner Sam Kirby was one of these men. 

“We’d come down here for lunch, get a baloney sandwich and chips and all the old timers sitting around telling stories and all that kinda stuff,” Kirby said. “And then we’d go back to work.”  

These memories were the reason why Kirby, a retired Richmond Fire Chief, and principal of Madison Central High Brandon Fritz decided to open Union City General Store (previously Union City Grocery) with the support of Ann Kirby.  

Best friends since the second grade, both grew up raising tobacco and had fond memories of their youth. 

Kirby said the store used to be the meeting spot for Union City and they wanted to bring back that old spirit of community. 

“He (Fritz) called me one day and me and my wife had already talked previously about me and her wanting to buy it and getting it back up and running. And he said, you know I was thinking I’d like to buy the store down there,” Kirby said. “I said well that’s funny you should mention that because Morgan’s wanting to buy the store, my wife, so it just started with that conversation, and I reached out to the owner, and we had talks and here we are.” 

Kirby’s love for the store brought him out of retirement. 

“Here I am working harder than I’ve ever worked in my life,” he said with a chuckle. 

He and Fritz bought the store at the end of February and worked on it until their opening in June. The remodeling was based on what they remembered as kids along with the addition of some new elements.    

But some things never change, such as the group of guys that sit out on the porch every morning swapping stories. 

“It’s very fun in the mornings when the liars club come in, get to have conversation with them and it’s pretty fun,” Kirby said. 

He also said that business has been way better than they could have ever expected. 

“Never could’ve dreamed that it would’ve been like this,” Kirby said. “It validates that what we envisioned, it’s what the community needed at the time and it’s going great.”