Hometown Communications

I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was the year 2000 and I had just left my job selling phones for Nextel.  This was the ‘push to talk’ time period; more of a trend.  Prior to Nextel I had been an inside sales representative for Alltel.  This was back in the day when you had to have a 4 year college degree to even be considered for a position like this.  I had come to my wits end with big corporate and thought it was time to make a change.  A friend of mine and I decided to start a cell phone company being an “authorized agent” for Alltel.  The biggest challenge was finding a place to open the doors.

Enter Holly Springs NC

There were plenty of places in Raleigh to open a store.  But, we would be just another cell phone shop.  Holly Springs was just starting to see growth.  Highway 55  and Holly Springs (well before the 55 bypass) was an inbetween area for folks working in Research Triangle Park to get home to Fuquay Varina or cutting South towards Lillington.  Town Hall was a trailer and the only real brick and mortar parts of the town was Oak Hall Subdivision with a Food Lion and a gas station adjacent…which is still there.  Sunset Ridge South was also one of the very few subdivisions in town.  It made perfect sense to be an option to all of the traffic going through town.

100 East Ballentine Street

We found a cinderblock building that was vacant right across from Town Hall.  I think rent was $800 a month.  We had to jump through some hoops to be approved to do business there.  We were under the impression all we had to do was get a business permit…..as we were told when we inquired.  As soon as the sign went up the town contacted us that we needed a site plan and several other things in order to open up a business in town.  I was 28 years old and the last thing I had was $30,000 to get approved by the town.  So, I was told about this guy who may be able to help.  Enter Parrish “Ham” Womble.  Ham was a well known figure in Holly Springs and at a Town Council meeting he stood up and “stood up” for us.  He got us approved to set up shop.  Now, Womble Park…his namesake is a very busy park in town where every kid around here has played soccer or baseball at one time or another.

Grand Opening….Grand Closing

The first few months we did really well….actually the whole first year we did really well.  It was great being in a growing small town and being “needed” by consumers.  There was no Amazon back then or bustling internet to order phones or accessories.  We did pretty well.  Then 9/11 hit 18 months into our venture.  We ended up making it a few more years, but it was never the same.  Technology was also increasing rapidly and honestly, authorized agents like us were just not in demand as much.  This was when I decided to get my real estate license and I never really left Holly Springs.  If you drive through downtown Holly Springs you will see our old store which is now Wine 100.  It is doing great and is another awesome addition to the fast growing area.

Below is a picture of my friend and business partner back in the day.  We were featured in the local newspaper; newspaper?  Remember, not much of an internet back then.  Also, there is a picture of our sign that was in the front yard.  It is now hanging in my garage.