END OF AN ERA
SOPCHOPPY GROCERY CLOSES
Sopchoppy Grocery closed for good on Friday, March 17. There were rumors that store owners Dewayne and Beth McClain had a potential buyer in the works who would continue the grocery, but it didn’t happen. According to a recent historical workshop on general stores, RNL Trading Co. opened at the spot in 1926 operated by the Roddenberry family and later by the Langston family. The McClains had run the store for more than 30 years. It had been one of the longest continuously operated businesses in Wakulla County. Photographer Gerald Brown visited the store on the last day and shot these photos.
Dewayne and Beth McClain check out one of their last customers, Teresa Harden.
Daughter Cecelia with Beth and Dewayne McClain in front of the store.
Store inventory included some antiques and oddities.
