Business Spotlight: Three Way Grocery

Three Way Grocery, known for its deli sandwiches and ice-cold beer, held its ribbon cutting on Friday, November 11, 2022, with its new owners, Taylor Garrison and Tina Bellamy. The mother and son team purchased the store in the summer of 2022 with the hope of continuing a legacy that began more than 90 years ago when the Three Way Grocery first opened at the corner of Old Highway 125 and Highway 64 in Bolivar.

“One of the first people who came into the store after we bought it said they had been shopping at Three Way Grocery for 50 years,” said Tina Bellamy. “That matters to me. You want to build a better community. You want to impact your community, and that is what we are trying to do.”

Three Way Grocery sells gasoline, groceries, hot and cold ready-to-eat food, fresh cut deli-meat, ice cold beer, and lottery tickets. On occasion, shoppers can purchase homemade chili, and nachos. The plans for next summer are to sell hand dipped ice cream and snow cones.

“We have a really old cooler that makes the beer colder than any other beer in town,” Taylor Garrison joked. “Also, because we were grandfathered in, we can sell beer when other businesses can’t, like on election day.”

Garrison graduated in 2018 from Bolivar Central High School. After graduation, he left the area and pursued a career in radio. Purchasing the Three Way Grocery gave him a new challenge, and an opportunity to live and work closer to where he was raised. Garrison previously owned and managed two other businesses. Three Way Grocery is his third. He runs the day-to-day operations of the business and his mother, who also owns and runs Big Buck Resort, handles the business administration.

Garrison has already made some improvements in the store. Some have been well received by customers and other improvements are slowly being accepted by some of “the regulars”. Despite that, Garrison believes everyone will soon see the benefits of the changes that have already been made, and are planned.

“I did change a few things here and there, but it is only for the better,” said Garrison. “There used to be a giant meat cooler. It cost a lot of money to run and kept freezing over, so I replaced it with a smaller and more efficient one. We also fixed the floor under the meat cooler.”

Garrison is intentional about purchasing American and local. The meat they sell comes from a local distributor, a mom and pop business.

“So what you find when you come into Three Way Grocery are products from the United States.”

Garrison has plans for additional changes to make the store even more appealing and a gathering place for the community.

“We will be adding a public restroom, painting, and placing booths where people can sit and eat what they order,” said Garrison. “We will eventually sell diesel for the truckers who stop.”

Three Way Grocery has a history in the county that dates to the 1930s. The two found a medicinal alcohol bottle under the store from that period and have the bottle displayed, so the next time you visit Three Way Grocery, ask to see a piece of history. Another story, as told by some of the locals is the business used to be a storefront for moonshine. Past that, many remember shopping at the store when they were children.

“We have met a lot of people who moved out of state, and stopped by when they were visiting in the county. They are amazed the store still stands,” said Bellamy. “They used to come here when they were kids, so it means a lot to them to see the store is still open.”

Three Way Grocery also offers storage rental services.

“We have 30 storage units, and a few are now available to rent,” said Garrison.

He has already experienced some of the challenges of business ownership since purchasing the store last summer.

“It takes a lot out of you, for instance with gas prices going up, everything is going up, and you always hear the bad side of people’s reaction. They tend to blame me not knowing I am selling it as low as I can, and still stay in business.” said Garrison. “I really try to make it accommodating for our customers.”

Bellamy has nothing but praise for her son, who at 22 years old, is probably one of the youngest business owners in the county.

“He shows up every day, six days a week. It is hard, 72 hours a week,” said Bellamy.

“It’s dark when I get here and it’s dark when I leave. It’s tiring, but I like it,” said Garrison who is committed to keeping the store open for the community. “I have enjoyed meeting a lot of cool people. A lot of people care about this store, so they will spend those extra few cents rather than going up town, because they want the store to be here. Three Way Grocery has been here for longer than most things in town (Bolivar) and they view Three Way Grocery as part of their community.”

Three Way Grocery, located at 45 Old Highway 125, Bolivar, 38008, is open Monday through Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The telephone number is (731) 212-3055.

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