By Claire Sachse
Claire.Sachse@tryondailybulletin.com

A fixture in the Landrum business community for 54 years is for sale and will close its doors. Ayers Produce, located at 332 S. Howard Ave. adjacent to Lynn’s Mower, has been in the Ayers family for three generations.

Owner Paul Ayers said Wednesday that he plans to stay open until the property sells, but that he is gradually phasing out parts of the business in preparation for a final closing.

“The decision to close was hard, but it’s time to enjoy life more,” said Ayers, now 69. He has worked at the store, started as a six-post shed by his parents James and Fannie Belle Ayers in 1960, since he was 15. The family built the 1,800 sq. ft. store in 1970 and opened the greenhouse in 1972. Ayers became a partner in the business when he was 24.

With the exception of two years in the Navy on a destroyer traveling around Europe, Ayers says he “has been here all my life.” His wife, Sandra, and daughter, Paula Corn, also work at the produce stand, greenhouse and restaurant.

Depending on the season, the shelves, bins and baskets are filled with a variety of produce grown on the property, locally, or brought in from farmers markets in Columbia or Asheville, including apples, pumpkins, potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes, watermelons, lemons, and a variety of greens and lettuce. Additionally, Ayers sells roses, mums, seasonal shrubs, bedding plants, seeds and fertilizer.

Ayers also makes jams, jellies, and sausage. Inside, there is a small restaurant where breakfast and lunch is served.

“Mom and pops are history,” said Ayers. “It’s hard for us to compete with corporate. People nowadays look at price first, then quality.”

Ayers said that although his breakfast biscuit is bigger and made with fresher ingredients, he can’t compete in price with a biscuit from a fast-food chain restaurant in town.

When he is not tending the store, Ayers can be found working in his garden next door. On a third-acre, he sets out 2,500 tomato plants in the spring and 900 for a fall harvest. Peppers, collards, cabbage, Brussel sprouts and kale complete his crop list. He trucks most of the garden’s yield to farmers’ markets in Columbia or Asheville.

After the property sells,  Ayers plans to continue operating his BBQ catering business known as Cuz & Big Boy.

“The main thing I’ll miss,” said Ayers, “is the friends I have made over the last 50 years. It was hard to make the decision to close, but I’m worn out, my equipment is worn out, it’s just time.”