A small country store once sat at Jett Ferry Road and Mount Vernon Road. Later, the country store included a gas station, with the typical Coca-Cola sign painted on one side. It was built and run by Joe Kelly. Next owners of the store were Georgia Carpenter Anderson and husband Offalee Anderson. Georgia grew up at her family’s home just down Mount Vernon Road, built by her father, Cicero Carpenter.
The name that is best remembered as being painted on the building is Sparks Grocery, another owner of the store. Lastly, the store was owned and run by a Mr. Wilson.
This same spot was once alongside the Hightower Trail, a trail that went from Augusta, Georgia to the Georgia mountains. It passed through Dunwoody and continued to a shallow area along the Chattahoochee River, known as the Shallow Ford. A historic marker sits at ALl Saints Catholic Church on the south side of Mount Vernon Road.
In 1976, Dr. James Anchors bought the property and transformed the country store into an office for his chiropractic practice. When he moved his business to Orchard Park Shopping Center after twenty-two years, his daughter Kim Anchors opened Marimay Gift Shop in the small building. Marimay was named for Kim’s maternal grandmother, Mary Josephine May. Anchors Chiropractic is now at 2498 Jett Ferry Road.
The next business on the corner property was java u coffee shop, and it was at that time that the old cinder block building was demolished to make way for a new modern building. That change happened in 2006 and New York Butcher Shoppe took over the space in 2010.
Crema has been open since 2013 and has become a popular spot to have coffee, a snack or a meal. People can be seen having coffee or a meal with friends, working on their laptops, or having business meetings. During covid Crema adjusted well to the times, setting up a drive through and several picnic tables.
I enjoy going to Crema; however, the nostalgic side of me wishes we still had a country store in my community-with one of those upright coolers where you reach in and get a cold beverage. There was a store like that across the road from my grandparent’s home on Covington Highway in Lithonia. Visiting that store with my cousins is one of my favorite childhood memories.