User:Donhess/sandbox

= Erica Mall =  Erica Mall  is a small country/convenience store located in the hamlet of Erica, Virginia near Mount Holly, Virginia and Montross, Virginia. These communities are located in Virginia's Northern Neck. The store's name is tongue-in-cheek: previous stores at this location, despite how tiny they were and with no regard to the true name of the store, were referred to by locals as Erica Mall.

Stores have existed on this half-acre site since 1927.

The first business to build here was a store called Miss Molly's, which ran from 1927 until 1958. The 31-year run is the longest thus far. The store was owned by Molly and Warren Smith, who lived on the second floor. The first floor included the Erica Post Office. Two other stores were later built across the street at the Erica/Mount Holly Road intersection. During this time, Walter was killed when he crashed his Model T Ford in front of the old Cople School.

In 1958 Molly Smith sold the business to Walter Hundley, who managed the store until 1961. Hundley then sold it to George Herbert who would not hold it for long: during his first year as proprietor the second storey was destroyed by fire, and the store closed.

The next year, Hundley bought back the store, removed what was left of the second floor and built a new roof, turning it into a one storey building. That structure, with several additions, stood until November, 2012.

In 1963 Hundley flipped the business to the Piper family in trade for a parcel of land on the Potomac river. Piper's Store remained active until 1971.

The next owners were the Hall family who operated Hall's for 17 years. In 1988 the property was purchased by Buddy and Dee Wathan and did business under the name Bud-Dees. Shortly after her husband's death, in 2002,Wathen sold the store.

The buyer was Marie Yeatman who renamed the business Marie's Corner Store. She ran the company for 9 years, leasing it to TC Hackett in the final year.

At this point, after years of gradual decay, the store became unstable. In 2012 Don Hes and Diane Lank purchased the land from Yeatman, razed the structure in November of that year, and finished completion of a new structure in 2013. Erica Mall opened its doors on July 2, 2013.