Sheila Rotton stands behind her husband, Al, at Banks Buy-Rite, a store she can remember being around when she was just girl.

Sheila said the family bought the store located just off of US Highway 29, after Al was looking for a way to be closer to his family.

“He used to travel a lot,” Rotton said. “Our boys were little, and he would miss out on ball games, things at school, birthdays, things like that. He was looking for something where he could be at home with them more.”

The store has become an essential part of their family, and Sheila said she thinks of it as more of a second home.

“We get to do things just the four of us,” Rotton said. “It’s kind of like a second home for us. We have two boys, ones a sophomore at Troy and one is a junior at Troy, and they work here, also. They turn in their hours, so we know when we can schduel them to work. It’s just like a second home. You have friends come over. They sit down, drink their coffee and talk.”

While Rotton spends most of her weekends working in the store, she can be found during the week at Pike Liberal Arts School teaching the fifth grade.

“I taught 25 years in public school in another county,” Rotton said. “I retired from that, and I stayed retired, because I had a child that was a senior. He played ball, and we got to travel and do all that, go to ball games and stuff with him. I got a chance to go back, and now I’m teaching at Pike Lib.”

With the store being a second home for her family, Rotton said she’s been able to come to know most of the customers that frequent Buy-Rite.

“I guess just kind of being in the middle of everything,” Rotton said. “We know everyone. We have customers now that we knew before they were born, and now they’re up walking in and buying things. We’ve watched them grow up through the years.”

Rotton said she originally had no idea how to run a store, but she’s been able to learn and said it’s been a great experience.

“It’s been fun learning about it,” Rotton said. “It has long hours, and you don’t get away as often as you would like to.”