White Sulphur bounces back with new businesses

March 20--WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS -- You can't keep a good town down, especially when retailers demonstrate the kind of confidence in the community that the Spa City's businesses have shown in the nine months since June's devastating flood.

Just two weeks ago, the city staged a series of ribbon-cutting ceremonies to welcome nearly a dozen businesses that have either newly opened or restored and reopened flood-damaged downtown storefronts.

"It is such an exciting time in our community," said City Councilman Mark Gillespie following the March 4 ceremonies. "(This signifies) the rebirth of our town and letting the world know we are open for business. We are strong people and will fight to rebuild."

Rhonda Shay, manager of RockFab's showroom and office at 27 E. Main St., agrees wholeheartedly with Gillespie's assessment of the town.

"White Sulphur is an amazing community, a wonderful family," Shay said, noting that she had previously lived in Greenbrier County several years ago and just recently moved back. "I'm thrilled that White Sulphur has gotten new businesses in," she added.

RockFab is one of the enterprises that survived the June 23 flood, having opened less than three weeks prior to the disaster. It was a surprisingly easy decision to restore the building that had seen more than 14 inches of water surge through, destroying carpet, flooring, bathroom fixtures, walls and a heater, and also collapsing a ceiling, Shay said.

"We have not given up on this area," the store manager said of the RockFab company, which is based in Roanoke, Va., with another showroom/office in Lynchburg. "We invested a lot of time in choosing this spot and deciding to make it our third location. It just took longer than we thought it would to get a good start, but we're getting there."

Best known for its exquisite natural stone custom countertops, RockFab also deals in manmade quartz and Corian products, tile, various flooring options, cabinetry and hardware, and sinks and faucets. The White Sulphur store contains samples of many of RockFab's offerings, including full slabs of granite, quarried in exotic locations like Brazil, Australia, South Africa and Egypt, as well as in the U.S.

"We'll have 34 to 36 slabs here at any given time," Shay said. "It lets customers see the variations in the stone before they buy. I can also prepare a template (on a computer) so the customer can see the pattern as it will look once the cuts are made to fit their setting."

Shay does the initial measuring in the client's home in order to calculate -- without charge -- a quote on the cost of the job.

"I worked in the Roanoke office, and we got customers from as far away as Ohio and several from Charleston," Shay said.

The customer base now served by the White Sulphur store encompasses those locations, plus Snowshoe in Pocahontas County, all of Greenbrier County (including the nearby Greenbrier Sporting Club) and Hot Springs, Covington and Clifton Forge, Va.

RockFab is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 304-536-1660 or visit www.rockfab.com.

----Just up the street from RockFab, Barnwood Living's three-week-old showroom occupies a space that once housed the insurance office owned by the company's founder, Mark Bowe. Sited just across Main Street from City Hall and adjacent to B Sweet Confectionery, the showroom boasts volume ceilings, handcrafted furniture, artwork, home decor and souvenirs including T-shirts and hats, sure to tempt fans of Bowe's DIY Network television show, "Barnwood Builders."

Following a group of West Virginia craftsmen, the show invites viewers to watch as old barns, cabins and other buildings are dismantled and the components are repurposed or reassembled miles away. Salvageable portions of the structures are stored at the "boneyard," Bowe's lumberyard located up W.Va. 92 from White Sulphur Springs.

Local references often slip into the TV program. An upcoming episode will feature the erection of a pavilion in a soon-to-open White Sulphur park named for country music star Brad Paisley, and another recent production focused on construction of the rustic interior of the Barnyard Living showroom.

In a 2015 interview with The Register-Herald, Bowe revealed, "People come to town just to see us, see the boneyard. They wear our T-shirts."

Having the midtown location filled with "Barnwood Builders" memorabilia, souvenirs and hand-crafted items -- many of which were made by the cast members -- creates a more accessible focal point for the show's fans, while also encouraging them to linger in White Sulphur Springs for a meal or additional shopping.

"We want this showroom to be a destination for people who are fans of the show," said Katherine Shelton, manager of the store and a Bowe associate for more than five years.

"The boneyard is not a safe place for people to visit," Shelton remarked, noting that the showroom also provides a convenient place for Bowe to meet clients.

Many of the artisans whose work is featured at Barnwood Living are local, or at least West Virginians, Shelton pointed out. The company even works with a local screen printer for the T-shirts and other gear imprinted with the "Barnwood Builders" logo.

Plans call for the addition of a handcrafted jewelry line and perhaps a selection of popular cast member Johnny Jett's art prints.

"We just have really, really cool things here," Shelton said.

Plans are already in the works for a formal grand opening on May 27, during the town's annual Dandelion Festival. On that day, the showroom will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and all of the cast members of the TV show are expected to attend, Shelton said.

From 1 to 5 p.m., the stars of the show will do a "meet and greet," with an autograph session and photos with the cast taken in exchange for a donation to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of the 11th Judicial Circuit. Well-known Greenbrier County musician Allen Sizemore -- who provided the music for the first season of "Barnwood Builders" -- also will perform.

Barnwood Living is located at 574 Main St., West. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. For more information, call 888-941-9553 or visit www.barnwoodliving.com.

----Other new and refurbished downtown White Sulphur Springs businesses recognized during the March 4 ribbon-cutting ceremonies were Mountaineer Guns, Tami's 3, Sassy Britches Boutique, Alfredo's restaurant, Primitive Home Furnishings, First Quality Pawn, Advanced Hearing Solutions, Mountaineer Insurance Services and Resort Home Services.

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