Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A struggle to survive
Two leasing mall in tiny Hogeye facing costs of fixes, fuel.
HOGEYE — Mary and Michael Dearing put a lot of cash and elbow grease into sprucing up the Hogeye Mall after they leased it 15 months ago. The couple will be forced to close the convenience store/travel stop by the end of the month if they don’t raise the $10,000 they need to make repairs and clear their books.
The Hogeye Mall, or Zip Trip Foods, sits at an intersection of three highways in rural Washington County. The store is the only business in the don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it town of Hogeye. The next closest place for gasoline and food is about 7 miles away in Prairie Grove, said Mary Dearing.
She blinked away tears while talking about her love of the store. She’s surrounded by mementos and signs that customers have made for her. A large wood- carved sign near the cash register reads “Mary’s Hogeye Mall 2013.” She calls many customers by name as they stream in for cigarettes, soda and staples.
Terry Daniels of Madison County, who stopped by for a soda on his way to make a delivery at a sawmill, said he is a frequent customer.
“I wouldn’t want to see it go away. The Hogeye Mall has been here a long time,” Daniels said.
There’s a big jar full of $1 bills on the counter with a sign that reads, “Help save the mall! We need your support!” The Dearings are a musical family and keep guitars in the back. Some construction workers come in almost every day for lunch and to engage in a jam session, Mary Dearing said.
“We’re going to do ev- erything we can to keep this place open,” she said.
Over her shoulder is a framed picture of her dad, who ran his own country store, Happy Acres, in her hometown of Mena.
“We’ve got so much community support,” added Michael Dearing, a former executive chef who has worked in several of Northwest Arkan- sas’ well-known restaurants. Now he’s master of his own kitchen at the Hogeye Mall, schlepping pizza, sandwiches and more. “We just have to get through our immediate troubles.”
The pair are so behind on unexpected repair bills and fuel costs that they are in danger of losing their house, Mary Dearing said. All told, they’ve put $20,000 in the Hogeye Mall, all on unforeseen expenses. She said their family members are alienated from them because they don’t understand the sacrifice.
She worked at the store for two years before she and her husband took over. The store was built around 1980, “but you’d swear it was the mid-’60s to early ’70s,” Mary Dearing said, referring to an early painting of the store. “It’s kind of frozen in time but in a good way.”
They said the previous
owner “just kind of gave up” after a flood in the area, so the couple’s first task was to clean up. When the two moved shelving to paint the floor, they had to scrape up flood mud that was years old. Three days after they opened, state officials visited and told them they had 30 days to get the building’s electrical system up to code, which they did with the help of friends.
“It was our first clue that many things that were hidden problems for years were now ours to deal with,” Mary Dearing said.
In their effort to get the kitchen up and running again, they had to clean up around the back of the store. A visit from a Health Department official led to the discovery of an environmental issue, which required more money to fix. A water-main break in the parking lot was yet another financial hurdle.
“It just seemed like we were in the cross hairs,” Mary Dearing said.
They’re also struggling to fix the fuel pumps so they can offer gas again. Right now, the Dearings are behind on an invoice from a fuel company and don’t have the money to pay it or buy more fuel.
“Between scrambling to meet regulations, learning to run our first business and serving the community on a shoestring budget while trying to raise a family, we sacrificed as much as we could to keep going,” Mary Dearing said.
The pair, married since 1996, live within walking distance of the store and made sure it stayed open during last winter’s ice storm. They have one employee who works in exchange for use of a shop-type garage on the property.
“We’re so dedicated to this place. We’ve just gotten into a situation where we’ve got to make some decisions,” Michael Dearing said.
The couple have their $ 10,000 goal listed on an online Tilt fundraising cam- paign called “Save the Hogeye Mall.” As of Thursday, $345 had been pledged. That money will be collected only if the campaign hits its mark or “tilts.”
Mary Dearing said she knew it was a Hail Mary but posted it anyway. Michael Dearing recently took a job at a new Green Submarine sandwich shop opening on Dickson Street in Fayetteville.
“This has been a very humbling experience,” she said. “I’m more used to helping others.”
The Dearings are hosting a chili dinner fundraiser at the store starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, complete with raffle items such as a homemade quilt and a stained-glass Razorback, both donated by customers.
There’s sure to be some cyclists stop in, as the mall is on a well-used bicycle training and racing route. The store is on the route for the 38-year-old Joe Martin Stage Race and the Hell’s Kitchen Road Race and was once on the route for the longtime Hogeye Marathon. For at least nine months of the year, there’s bicycle traffic stopping at the store.
Bruce Dunn, owner and race promoter for All Sports Productions Inc. — which puts on the Joe Martin race — made a donation to the mall’s Tilt campaign. He’s also president of the decades- old Fayetteville Wheelman Cycling Club.
“I’ve been going out there almost 25 years, riding my bicycle, and that’s one of the first places you stop because you need water,” Dunn said. “It’s more than just convenience, it’s community — having something there in that area.”
Deanna DuPlanti, a longtime volunteer for the Joe Martin race until recently, always requested the store corner as her post for the race. She still has signs declaring it “Deanna’s Corner.”
“It’s just a landmark,” she said, “You expect it to be there every year.” Without it, the area would feel “isolated.”