Town to co-sign up to $30k loan

Tryon Town Council heard news from its ABC board this week that the ABC store can reopen, pending approval of a loan.

The store has been closed since September following the town and state doing an audit and inventory of the store. Council met Tuesday, Feb. 19 and heard from ABC board chair Richard Rardin and members Dennis Durham and Debra Isabell, who asked council to co-sign a $25,000 loan.

Rardin said since the store closed the board has been working to gather all the information needed and part of that entailed coming up with a proposed budget. Reopening the store, Rardin said, is going to take a small loan, which the store cannot obtain without the town’s signature.

Durham said the landlord has lowered the rent from $1,200 per month to $1,000 per month and the store plans to reduce the hours of operation. The store would open at 12 noon instead of 10 a.m. and be open until 8 p.m. as it used to be Monday through Saturday.

Durham is basing his figures on $40,000 a year for wages to operate the store, with a manager receiving $24,000 a year with a $6,000 initiative. Durham said making the reopening work depends on hiring the right manager.

“No one knows the future,” Durham told commissioners. “It pretty much comes down to a service for the community.”

Durham’s budget included three scenarios, with the first based on receiving $325,000 a year in sales, the second receiving $350,000 annually in sales and the third receiving $375,000 annually in sales. The first two end with slight losses for the store, with negative $6,164 and negative $789 respectively. The $375,000 annual sales budget ends with a $4,586 profit, according to Durham’s budget.