Laurel Mills Store reopens
The Laurel Mills Store in Castleton reopened its doors last month after a four-month hiatus between owners.
New owners Pete and Brenda MacMurray are familiar with the region, having renovated and reinvigorated the Orlean Market in Fauquier County in 2008. After operating a B&B and gift shop in New Bern, N.C., for the last three years, the serial entrepreneurs say they’re pleased to be back in the Virginia Piedmont.
Pete McMurray is a creative businessman with a host of successful companies on his resume, including development of one of the first e-commerce businesses in the country, PC Flowers. Created in 1989, the business sold flowers nationwide via the embryonic Internet.
Later, he shifted gears, purchasing and operating a major marina near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. His wife, Brenda, operated a grocery store in Manassas in the 1990s.
The energetic couple has breathed life back into the historical village store that was built in 1877, where an old mill next to the store once manufactured confederate uniforms during the Civil War. The MacMurrays restored the pine flooring and exposed the original brick walls to showcase goods typically found in a small grocery store.
By the end of this month, wine — both Virginia and international — and several craft and popular beers will be featured along with fresh sandwiches, soups and salads.
“I am thrilled to death to have the store back in operation,” says former longtime store co-owner Mary Frances Fannon.
“All the kids from Castleton Festival come in,” says Pete MacMurray. “They are really, really nice kids; musicians, singers, costume designers and more. Who would have thought we’d have an internationally acclaimed music festival in Rappahannock County? We have people from all over the world come in the store now.”
That includes local residents, many who have enjoyed successful careers elsewhere and seek the beauty and quiet of Rappahannock County as counterpoint to their busy lives.
One such legendary cohort is the Sunday Morning Front Porch Group — which has been meeting for years at the store for coffee, pastries and banter (even while the store itself was between owners and otherwise closed). If you were to stumble onto this crowd, you’d be chatting with consultants, political figures, high-priced lawyers, former CEOs and judges, among the diverse backgrounds.
“The Laurel Mills Store has changed but it hasn’t,” says longtime Front Porcher Richard Viguerie. “You'll find the same warm smile and friendly greeting from Brenda and Pete that we've grown accustomed to over the years from Mary Frances Fannon, then Marion Sharp.”
Viguerie explains that as one walks onto the front porch and up to the heavy wooden door, it looks like the momand-pop store he’s known for decades. “But when you step inside, wow. You feel as if you've been transported to a charming boutique shop in Greenwich Village.
“Brenda and Pete have clearly made a long-term commitment to our part of beautiful Rappahannock County. I, and the other front porch regulars, welcome and thank them."
The Laurel Mills Store is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week in the summer (8 to 5 on Sundays).
But locals know that if an item is needed during off hours they can “simply knock on the front door and we’ll let them in, since we live on the second floor,” says a smiling Pete MacMurray.