Piece of Americana remains in Pansey: Brunson’s Grocery

PANSEY - A tribute to days gone by sits about five miles south of U.S. Hwy. 84 East on Houston County Road 75. On that spot you will find Brunson’s Grocery - or what a lot of people who grew up in the South would call “a country store.” It’s been in operation since 1974 and has many of the characteristics of stores that operated for many years prior to that time.

Despite hardships, difficult economic times and the abundance of “mega stores,” Charles and Kathy Brunson have managed to meet the needs of the citizens that occupy a triangle formed by Ashford, Cottonwood and Gordon. The majority of the land in that region remains dedicated to agriculture. The convenience of Brunson’s Grocery saves these rural residents the hardship of “driving to the city” for basic supplies, fuel and even basic automotive work.

The original store purchased by then 19-year-old Brunson was on County Road 81. He moved it to its County Road 75 location soon after he purchased it.

“At the time, I was working at the (Farley) Nuclear Plant,” Brunson said as he reflected on the store’s ability to survive the passing of time. “I was going to buy a new car.”

That purchase in 1974 didn’t happen. Instead, Tommy Whitehead made Brunson a deal he decided not to refuse.

“I found out I could borrow $5,000 and buy the store and the stock in it and move it over here,” Brunson said. “I kept the car I had.”

Store management, however, was not in Brunson’s immediate plans.

“I was too young to run it,” Brunson said of his new business. “Mother and daddy ran it for me while I was in the Navy.”

The store met its first hardship while Brunson was in the Navy. It burned to the ground.

“Daddy built it back,” Brunson said. “When I got out of the Navy in 1980, I took over running it.”

In those early days, Brunson’s Grocery was a popular teen hangout.

“We had a pool table in the back, which was popular with the teens,” Brunson said.

In a short period of time, many of the country stores began to disappear from the landscape. Brunson says it’s easy to put a finger on why that happened.

“What killed some country stores was the way gas was distributed,” Brunson said. “The distributors of the gas put in the 500-gallon tanks. They also owned the tanks. Because of that, gas prices got to be very high.”

At that point, in 1984, Brunson knew he had reached an important junction in his business career.

“I decided to put in my own gas tanks,” Brunson said. “I would buy my gas off semis.”

His decision came just as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was instituting some major regulations.

“I did everything right for the EPA,” Brunson said.

Fuel prices and EPA regulations were not the only things that altered the ability of country stores to survive.

“Most of the land around here is owned by individual farmers,” Brunson said. “Just about all of their children have moved off. As their parents have died, the children started selling the land.”

That could open the area for more development.

Despite some hardships, Brunson has kept his eye on the future, and the store he operates with his wife, Kathy, continues to change with the times.

“In 2003, we opened an automotive service center (adjacent to the store),” Brunson said. “Originally, we opened it as a tire store. Now, we have a mechanic that leases it.”

Mrs. Brunson, who spent 30 years in retail sales in Dothan, has put her business expertise to work in running the day-to-day operations of the store. But, she says, it’s her husband’s ability to stay ahead of changes that have kept the store in business for 35 years.

“Charles is a visionary,” Mrs. Brunson said. “He has the ability to stay a step of ahead. An example of that is our deli. Fifteen years ago, all we sold were hot dogs. He decided to expand the deli.”

At the time of the expansion, the store did not have a steady customer base looking for a meal.

“We didn’t have the customers on a daily basis for it to be practical to cook a full meal,” Brunson added. “We started out with hamburgers that could be cooked in two minutes. Then we found out about a pizza buffet.

“It’s worked out for us. People don’t cook that much anymore.”
That’s not to say the Brunsons haven’t faced their share of struggles.

“Everything has been a struggle,” Brunson said. “It’s hard to get vendors to come here, especially after Harmon School closed. And, it’s hard to get information on new products.”

Not one to rest on his laurels, however, Brunson is always looking for ways to improve his business.

“I’ve always believed that, the more I had to draw people with, the more variety, the more people would come,” Brunson said.

And it is the desire to meet the needs of his customers that have kept Brunson’s Grocery in operation.

“This is a customer-based business,” Mrs. Brunson said. “We try to be as good to our customers as they are to us. We try to keep items in our inventory that are needful for them.

“We have a good relationship with our customers. We want all of our customers to be repeat customers.”

That customer service focus has led Brunson to make numerous upgrades through the years.

“Charles is always making improvements to the store,” Mrs. Brunson noted. “The canopy out front and the installation of a diesel pump are just two examples of that.”

In addition to meeting the needs of his family, Brunson’s ability to keep his store in operation benefits the community it serves. The Brunsons employ six staff members.