Grover’s
Office Supply was a well-known, long running business in downtown Brevard
before it was sold to Hoyle Office Solution in 2016. The business had been located at 372 S. Broad
St. for about 10 years. Do you remember
any of Grover’s three previous locations though?
Grover
and Gladys Frisbee began their office supply business in 1976. In addition to general office supplies they
sold desks, chairs, filing cabinets and equipment, including typewriters,
adding machines and calculators.
During
their 40 years of business technology brought about many changes. Fax and copy machine services were added and
items like printers and ink cartridges replaced typewriters and typewriter
ribbons. When Grover and Gladys retired
they passed the business to their son, Randy and his wife, Sherri. What did not change through times was their
service policy. They would order any
products they did not have in stock, typically with next day service. They also delivered to businesses in downtown
Brevard.
Grover’s
first location on W. Jordan Street was small and within a short time they moved
to a larger store on the corner of S. Broad and W. Jordan. After about 12 years they again moved to a
larger building, the former Houston Furniture on E. Main St., which the Frisbees
purchased. Grover’s final move to South Broad Street in
2006 offered additional space and parking.
Grover’s Office Supply, Phone Mart and B&J Sales and Service
at 100 S. Broad St., 1983 |
Citizen’s
and Comporium telephone books listed Grover’s Office Supply at the following
locations through the years—10 W. Jordan 1977-78; 100 S. Broad St. 1979-1991;
55 E. Main St. 1992-2005; and 372 S. Broad St. 2006-2016.
The
other two businesses shown in this 1983 photograph are Phone Mart and B&J
Sales and Service. Phone Mart was
located at 112 S. Broad St. and apparently was only in business the one
year.
B&J
Sales and Service, specializing in appliance repair opened at 212 S. Broad
Street in 1979. They moved to 116 S.
Broad a couple of years later and remained there until 1996. The business is still in operation as B&J
Appliance Service.
If you
have additional photographs or information about these businesses the staff in
the Local History Room would like to hear from you.
Photographs
and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina
Room, Transylvania County Library. Visit the NC Room during regular library
hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional
photographs. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected]
or 828-884-1820.