Short Stop Grocery closing August 31

The familiar building at the corner of North Memphis Street and Rust Avenue in Holly Springs is dear to the heart of Elaine Watkins-Herring.

She’s owned and operated Short Stop Grocery 33 years.

“It’s home,” she said. However, August 31 at midnight, Watkins-Herring will walk away from the business she purchased in 1988. She said the parking lot is being sold, and she has no choice but to vacate the premises. In the meantime, she is searching for a new location. “The closer the spot is to here, the better it will be,” she said. In the 1980s, she was working for Junior Food Mart “at the top of the hill” on North Memphis, nearer to downtown. She managed 12 stores and was gone from home a lot at night, she said.

The new owner of the building at “the bottom of the hill” contacted her about managing that store.

“I said I would do it if he would give me first shot if he decided to sell it,” Watkins-Herring said.

“He kept it for a couple of years, and then I bought it. I’ve been here ever since.” Short Stop, for most of those 33 years, has been open 24 hours a day — offering lots of food and snacks and drinks, and there’s gas pumps, too. Now, due to a lack of help, it closes at midnight and reopens at 3 a.m.

Regular, repeat customers flow through for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s, of course, a popular spot for Rust College students.

“I used to have kids who live across the street who didn’t have a whole lot to eat,” Watkins-Herring said. “I fed them.

“I’ve helped raise a bunch of kids.

“One girl I know who attended Holly High and Rust, who lives in Corinth, she still comes here.

“A lot of Rust College graduates, too, who come for Founders Day, they always look me up.” “My customers mean the world to me. They’re my friends. I appreciate them so much.” Customer favorites include the chicken and the chili cheese dogs, just to name a couple.

“People out of Memphis come for the chicken,” Watkins-Herring said.

Her employees are also special to her.

“Some have been with me 25 or 30 years,” she said. “Some have retired, and some have passed on.” Lots of family members, including children and nieces, have also worked with her at Short Stop.

She has donated over the years to the jail, the prison, churches, schools and others. She said she enjoys being a part of the Holly Springs community.

Watkins-Herring, 72, looking out over a typical crowded parking lot at Short Stop, said she has no plans to retire.

“I want to keep working,” she said. “I want to keep serving my customers ­ maybe not the gas, but definitely the food.”