Corner Shop

Corner Shop culture

By EMILY RICE

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Bramwell is a town steeped in history. At the turn of the 20th century, the town experienced exponential growth as millionaire coal barons built their mansions along the Bluestone River. Soon, Bramwell became the richest town per-capita in the United States.

With exponential growth comes exponential expectations, and Bramwell lived up to those expectations. The community embraced their new identity and and flourished. One example of this history that remains in Bramwell today is The Corner Shop.

The Bryant Pharmacy replaced the Bramwell Pharmacy after a structure fire in 1910. The store evolved from there and since about 1960, it has been known as The Corner Shop.

“This was the Bryant Pharmacy building, there is a picture of Dr.

Bryant and his sons up on the wall,” Mandy Fink, manager of The Corner Shop said. “The owners, John and Donna Husband restored this building and poured everything into it to turn it into The Corner Shop. In that picture where Dr. Bryant is, it shows the marble soda fountain station and that is the station we still use.

Most of it stayed the same they basically just cleaned it up and poured some love into it as well.”

A visit to The Corner Shop is not just a dining experience, it is a visit to the past. The shop itself still has the glass-topped ice cream parlor tables and triangular chairs, solid cherry cabinets and tiffany-style stained glass behind the marble counter.

Fitting in this retro environment are the employees of The Corner Shop, adorned in 1950s dresses, bows and bow ties.

“The theme that we use here is ‘a walk back in time.’ It does take a little bit longer. We are operating out of the old pharmacy kitchen which is a very small space and we hand-do everything so it is not like a 60 second McDonald’s meal,” Fink said. “You get that old-school feel of stepping back into the 1950s.

We hand mix our sodas, we carbonate each individual drink, so if you said that you wanted a banana pineapple soda, we would carbonate it and make it from scratch.”

That step back in time is what originally drew Fink to move her large family to Bramwell.

“I moved here, I own the Phoebe Goodwill house on the hill. At the time I had nine kids and it had nine bedrooms, so it was perfect. I have 12 kids now,” Fink said. “I fell in love with the house, the history, the diner, the fact that I can wear red lipstick and polka dots and walk to work, I just love it. The town of Bramwell is very family oriented, it is very safe. My kids ride their bikes through town, all of the neighborhood kids ride their bikes into town for ice cream.”

Fink said most of Bramwell’s teenagers’ first job is at The Corner Shop. One of the owners, Donna Husband, is passionate about the youth of the town and providing them a good place for their first job.

“The truth of it, the vision of the corner shop, the ice cream, the decorations, the everything, goes back to Donna’s vision for it. I just help her make it happen,” Fink said. Part of Donna’s vision is The Corner Shop’s homemade ice cream. She makes all of the ice cream at the shop and creates most of the recipes herself.

“We were rated number one in the state for our milkshakes, but our food items are also very unique too,” Fink said. “We hand-bread our peppers, hand patty our burgers, everything, we even cut our buns individually.”

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020, The Corner Shop adapted to fit the world around its historic street corner.

“Thankfully, due to a lot of locals, we were able to do deliveries for local businesses and doctor’s offices,” Fink said.

“We also offered curbside pickup which kept us afloat. We opened up online ordering where you can go through our link on our Facebook page and you can order online and it will print directly into our kitchen. Then 30 minutes later, you pull up and tell us your name and we bring it out to you. We have tried to grow with it instead of allowing it to hurt us.”

The Corner Shop and Bramwell itself continues to thrive not only because of its dedication to preserving its history, but also for its adaptability to changing conditions. With the introduction of ATV tourism and the Hatfield-McCoy Trail, Bramwell continued to welcome tourists with open arms.

“The ATV riders roll in covered in mud

Culture, C-2

Austin Fink demonstrates the meaning behind, “soda jerk.” The origins of the nickname come from the “jerk” motion from the fountain for a freshly made soda.

Staff Photo by Emily Rice

Contributed photo

Continued from C-1

and say they don’t want to come in with the mud, but we love our ATV riders. They are a big part of helping us grow and get to where our goals are set,” Fink said. “For our ATV riders, if they are not going to make our cut off time before we close, they can send their order in and we will have it ready here for them to swing by and pick up.”

The Corner Shop, located at 171 Main Street, Bramwell, is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and closed on Sundays. For more information, visit The Corner Shop’s Facebook Page at facebook.com/thecornershop. net.

— Contact Emily Rice at erice@bdtonline.com