A local business in Dozier celebrated their ribbon cutting ceremony with the Crenshaw County chamber of commerce, inviting friends and family to learn more about the new business.

The venture, 29 and Main, is a new convenience store in Dozier, owned and operated by Celia and Tony Kelley, who work alongside their family and friends in the business. 

“We talked about trying to find a small convenience store, that’s something that both of us had always talked about wanting to find, and this one in Dozier became available and we decided to research into the opportunity and it worked,” Celia Kelley said. “We planned for about a year or more to work on obtaining the property.” 

While the ribbon cutting was celebrated this Tuesday, 29 and Main has been open since March of 2024, when the couple completed renovations on the property. 

Currently, 29 and Main sells a variety of items, including grocery and convenience store items, Hunt Brothers pizza, boiled peanuts and more.

“We’re just so excited about the opportunity for this area of our county, in the city of Dozier, to have a retail-grocery-restaurant combo here to serve in the area,” said Kathy Smyth, president of the Crenshaw County chamber of commerce. “We really just wanted to celebrate that happening for them, and be able to get the word out to the community. They’re open for business and they’re ready to serve.”

At the ribbon cutting, the store served some of the food items that they sell, including chicken bites, pizza, boiled peanuts and homemade sweet tea. 

In the future, the business hopes to install gas dispensers outside the building and look into accepting EBT payments. 

“With everybody here, we don’t just have the Dozier community, but the surrounding areas that now do not have to drive 10 miles, at least, to another store,” Celia Kelley said.  “Everybody has been so receptive and thankful to us for having this here, coming in and opening in their community.”