Barnette: Double Kwik in good hands

JODI DEAL / Staff Writer



Gaye Pendleton, left, an employee of the Double Kwik store near the former Wal-Mart shopping center, got a surprise visit Friday night. Her old boss, Wendell Barnette, his wife, Brenda, and Dave McComas, CEO of Fas Mart, a chain that recently bought the Double Kwiks, all stopped in to chat and exchange hugs. (Keith Strange photo) NORTON - Once all 58 Tennessee and Virginia Double Kwiks were officially converted into Fas Marts Friday night, Double Kwik founder Wendell Barnette stressed that the right attitude in life will take you far.

"If you've got the right attitude, you can do anything," said Barnette, surrounded by Double Kwik company leaders and Fas Mart officials at a relaxing dinner party at The Inn at Norton.

And a key to having the right attitude is recognizing the importance of customers. It may sound cliché, but Barnette means it when he says his customers have been like family in the 37 years he's been in the convenience store business.

"A lot of them call me 'Bubba,' and I'll call them 'Hoss'," Barnette said, with a laugh. There are regular customers who, along with loyal and dedicated workers, make every store a unique environment, he added.

Dave McComas, CEO of the Mechanicsville-based Fas Mart chain, agreed with Barnette's assessment.

"The people are the heart of these things - they're why we buy the stores we buy," said McComas, whose company officially acquired the Double Kwiks Thursday.

McComas later added that he's never seen employees so loyal to their stores and friendly to newcomers. He's been visiting the area for several months and getting acquainted with employees, he noted, and several of them already greet him at the doors of their stores with great big hugs.

"He's a hugger," Barnette agreed. He added that he's noticed how dedicated McComas's staff is, and added that when he was reviewing potential buyers, McComas struck him as someone who'd be good to local employees.

"The other day, I told him, Dave, you've finally made it to the best place in the world - Wise County," Barnette said.

NOT GOING ANYWHERE

Barnette says he feels a "sense of accomplishment" now that the sale of the Double Kwiks is finished.

"We're not sad, because we're not going away," said Barnette, noting that he won't be leaving his hometown of Wise.

For those who work in Double Kwik's former Glamorgan headquarters, Barnette really won't be so far away. Even though Fas Mart is renting most of that office space from Barnette to keep the local convenience stores' managers in the same location, Barnette is keeping the same office he's always had there. He'll still be serving as a consultant as Fas Mart tries to acquire other local chains. He'll also be helping them build new stores.

LONG LOCAL HISTORY

The first Double Kwik was a small store opened in 1960 and operated by Barnette's parents, Hogue and Verda Barnette. In 1970, Barnette and his brother, Jerry, purchased the business from their parents. The Barnette family ran the original store, which is located in the Glamorgan section of Wise on Highway 23, until the brothers decided to start expanding in 1981. Since then, stores have opened steadily across the region. Jerry Barnette retired in 1994.

"Myself and my brother bought one store, and we worked so hard to get it going," Barnette said. "We just loved the people so much, so we started expanding," he said, adding that he had a lot of help from his wife, Brenda, a former banker, who did most of Double Kwik's financial work for many years.

Even when Barnette's stores transition over to Fas Marts, there will still be Double Kwik stores that exist in Kentucky, Barnette explained. Those stores are owned by Childers Oil, a company that hauled a lot of gas for the Barnette Enterprises Double Kwiks in Virginia and Tennessee.

The 53 Double Kwiks in Kentucky were once Kwik Marts, while Barnette's stores were once called Kwik Shop Markets. The businessmen at the helms of the two chains decided to merge names and logos many years ago to help each other grow. Barnette's Double Kwiks had a black background in their logo, while the Childers Double Kwiks had a white background.

Barnette says that he and his wife plan to spend a little time relaxing and enjoying time with their families, but aren't kicking back to retire. There's still construction to be done, and time to devote to charity work and civic groups.

It's not enough to thank the community, Barnette noted.

"We've been very blessed," he added. "I thank the good Lord for our health and happiness. It's been a good, long run."