Troy icon may soon change hands

The “For Sale” sign in front of Ingram’s Curb Market tells a sad story.

“I’m sad too,” said Charlene Ingram Jordan, then added with a laugh, “but I’m tired, too.”

The decision to sell the family-owned business that Jack and Grace Ingram opened in 1959 didn’t come easy for Charlene and Conley Jordan but it was made without any reservations.

“Conley and I’ve had it by ourselves since Mother died,” Jordan said. “Of course, she wasn’t able to help out a lot but she did help out. We’ve had it seven days a week for about year now. We just need some time for ourselves.

“Mother told us if anything happened to her to sell the store and take some time to enjoy things. So, we are doing this with her blessing.”

In 1959, Jack and Grace Ingram had a truck farm and they needed a place to sell their produce, so they opened a curbside market on West Fairview Street. They built the grocery store in 1966 and Conley started working with them.

“I helped out at that little place and then worked part time at the grocery store,” Jordan said. “I taught school until I went fulltime at the grocery store in 1974. This store has been a big part of my life for a long time.”

Letting go of a family business was a hard decision to make but Jordan said that she and her husband didn’t have anyone to “turn it over to.”

“One of our sons has been working for the state for a long time and the other’s not interested,” she said. “We put up the ‘for sale’ sign in hopes that someone local will buy the store. I can’t control that but it sure would please me a lot.”

Jordan said that, when the store sells, she wants to make sure that her employees are taken care of.

“We’ve got good employees and a successful meat department,” she said.

“When we sell, I hope whoever buys the store is smart enough to realize that the meat department is a key part of the store and that they will keep the good people we’ve got working here.”

Jordan said Ingram’s Curb Market has survived the competition of the large chain grocery markets because Ingram’s customers appreciate the personal service.

“A lot of our employees have been with us a long time,” she said. “We know our customers and they know us. That’s what I’ll miss – my customers. I’ll sure miss them.”

But Jordan said she’ll have plenty to keep her busy.

“I’ve got to clean out my mother’s house and I take care of her sister, so I have that responsibility,” she said. “I want to spend time with the grandchildren and travel. So I’ve got a lot to do.”

Jordan said that she hopes Ingram’s Curb Market sells sooner rather than later.

“Even when the store sells, it will take time to get all the paper work done, so we’ll be around a while,” she said.

And, as soon as the deal is closed and Charlene and Conley turn over the key to Ingram’s Curb Market to the new owners, “We’re going to Disney World,” Jordan said, laughing.