Local business displaced by Main Street fire hopes to re-open this fall

MARLINTON, WV – Another business displaced by last year’s Main Street fire is looking to re-open later this year.

Dirt Bean owner Kristy Lanier said she plans on keeping the same business name, but the location will be different, across from Mitchell Chevrolet, next to the 4th Avenue Gallery.

She hopes to attract hikers and bikers who use the Greenbrier River Trail, and she’s pleased with the almost trail-front location. Lanier said the new business will offer a lot of the same services.

“It’s going to be a lot smaller space,” explains Lanier. “So we’re trying to make up for the lack of indoor seating with outdoor seating. So, we’ll have a front porch and a patio, but everything pretty much concept-wise and shop-wise will stay the same. I want to play with some new menu stuff and keep the ones that were the favorites, but then just play a little bit, use the opportunity to play a little bit.”

She said the lot actually belongs to Mitchell Chevrolet, and Sam Mitchell and his guys have been really accommodating. And Lanier said they’ll be using a local builder.

“It’ll be a brand new building that Andrew Must is building, with his crew,” she says. “But they probably won’t get started until the third week of April. So Sam and some of his guys are trying to get the foundation repaired and some drain lines and all that good stuff done, before Andrew and those guys actually start framing up the building.”

She said she’s really excited about the prospect of re-opening, and as of right now, she’s hoping to be back in business by this fall. Unfortunate she said, because a good portion of the Dirt Bean’s business came from summer visitors.

“It feels pretty weird to not be getting ready for the season right now,” admits Lanier. “Like not ordering bike parts, not ordering beer and wine for River Race, and not beefing up on staff. It just feels really weird to not be doing any of that.”

With the re-opening tentatively scheduled for autumn, Lanier has been providing some of the services the former shop offered, like bicycle repairs and fitness classes.

She just started teaching yoga and spin classes at the Wellness Center. The former Dirt Bean offered health and fitness options, but Lanier said with the new building’s smaller size, all of her classes will be held at the Wellness Center.

And Lanier’s bicycle repair business will be back in operation, thanks to help from another local business owner. Chuck Workman, owner of Appalachian Sport, and Lanier, were able to salvage some of her bike shop equipment after the fire.

“We pulled a lot of stuff out of that back room and he brought his trailer over,” Lanier says. “Hopefully I can find temporary shelter, either in town, to just do bike operations out of, or operate out of my house and garage for repairs and that sort of thing.”

Anyone interested in yoga or spin classes can contact the Pocahontas County Community Wellness Center for scheduling and pricing. And anyone who might need bike servicing can call the old shop number at 304 799 4038, or e-mail Kristy Lanier at Kristy@dirtbean.com

Lanier said she had an idea recently for the grand opening that she’s been tossing around.

“If it’s going to be fall, September 25 was my official opening, what will be ten years ago, this fall,” she says. “Maybe I’ll just try to shoot for a grand re-opening on Dirt Bean’s official birthday. I don’t really know yet. We have to see how construction goes, but that just might be the official rebirth, on the same birthday again.”