The Selma Times-Journal

Stop in at Mark’s Mart on Landline Road and you’ll discover it’s not your average corner convenience store.

There are shelves lined with a variety of wines, locally-made baked goods, seasoned meat and chicken ready to toss on the grill and such an array of specialty products shoppers will think they are in a gourmet market.

“We have a lot of different kinds of meat, and home baking. I think it really helps out to have that,” owner Odis King said. “You have to just keep changing with the times.”

King and his wife, Clara Nell, opened the first Mark’s Mart in the late 1970s on Jeff Davis Avenue, then opened the current store at the intersection of Landline Road and County Road 44 in 1980.

They have since sold the Jeff Davis location, but the Landline Road store in the Potter’s Station community continues to be a family business.

Family being the key word.

Their son Rodney runs the store with the assistance of their grandson, Brian.

One of the more popular items in the store are the chicken swirls, which have made an impression on customers.

“That worked out real well,” Odis King said.

He said Rodney came up with the product, which is a chicken breast wrapped around beef, then wrapped in bacon, ready to grill.

The chicken swirls and the filets are the store’s best sellers, Brian said, but there are a variety of other choices, including chicken and beef kabobs, sandwiches, ready-to-eat salads, dips, an assortment of cheeses and locally-made Gantt candies.

In addition, Mark’s Mart has all the offerings found in other corner markets, like chips, sodas, beer and canned food items.

Hours for the store are Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 3:30

to 7 p.m.