Convenience Store A 'Royal' Pain No More

Ray Reiner was one of the many Oliver Beach and Chase residents who hated looking at the site of an old Royal Farms store every day at the intersection of the 12000 block of Eastern Avenue and Ebenezer Road.

The store has been vacant for years after it built a newer store adjacent to the old establishment. The boarded-up building had fallen into disrepair, was covered with graffiti, and people and businesses used the site as a dumping ground.

Councilwoman Cathy Bevins shared many of the same concerns. An Oliver Beach resident as well, Bevins grew frustrated with the site and felt it took much of the beauty away from the area.

“The intersection where that old store is located is a gateway to Oliver Beach and to the water for many people,” Bevins said. “It really had become a blight to the community, and something needed to be done.”

Bevins reached out to Royal Farms officials with hopes of having the building razed. While that didn’t happen, the chain offered to immediately take action to improve the state of the building and the property grounds.

Bevins recently met with Royal Farms president John Kemp to discuss the issue. In response to that meeting, Kemp wrote a letter to Bevins outlining the company’s plans to improve the conditions of the property. Among the improvements that have or will soon be addressed on the property are:

• Remove graffiti from the building
• Spruce up the building exterior
• Remove the Royal Farms signage from the building
• Ensure the lot continues to be cordoned off to limit trespassing or dumping
• Inspecting the property regularly, including the rear of the building
• Make sure there is a landscape contract in place for the grounds, which will include debris removal.
• Make sure no more storage trailers are stored on the lot.
• Stop allowing construction companies to stage their equipment on the lot.
• Remove old equipment from the building itself and stop using the facility as a storage site for the company’s equipment.
• Continue to market the property for sale or lease with hopes of finding a tenant or owner that would improve, occupy and maintain the property.

“Royal Farms is a local company that prides itself on being responsive to the communities,” Kemp wrote to Bevins. “I assure you we will use this as a learning experience and as an opportunity to greatly improve our performance…Please accept my apologies and please pass them onto the community association.”

A recent examination of the property shows the entrances have been chained off, the graffiti was removed from the building and all the worn-down signs had been removed.

Bevins said Royal Farms' quick response is an example of how residents, elected officials and business owners can work together to swiftly solve a problem.

“Constituent services is the most important part of this job to me,” Bevins said. “We had people reach out to my office to do something about this building, and we worked to make something happen.”