126 Innes Street East Salisbury, North Carolina, 28144

126 Innes Street East Salisbury, North Carolina, 28144
$259,900

One of the last true remaining general stores in North Carolina! Listing is for the building only. First floor is 4130 Square feet open space with restrooms, second floor is 3 offices, a bathroom and one large 78.9×31.6 area, formerly a roller rink. Could easily be made into apartments or living space. Full basement is dry and usable with another 4130 square feet. Total Sq Feet of all 3 floors is 12390. Located on East Innes St. with approx 28,000 car count per day. Parking area out back, and next to one of the City’s municipal parking lots.


Currently the Okey Dokey & Co. General Store, this 8300 (above grade) square-foot brick building, circa 1900, on the main drag from Interstate I-85 into downtown Salisbury, has enormous possibilities.
The large, open, first floor is 4130 square feet of open space. Restrooms are located on this level.
The second floor houses 3 offices, a bathroom, and one large nearly 80' x 32' area, that at one time was an indoor roller rink!  This second story space could foresee-ably be converted to apartments or living space.
126 E. Innes Street has been most notably a general store for most of its 114 years of life. It has most recently been the Okey-Dokey General Store, and before that, O.O. Rufty's General Store. Located in the Downtown Salisbury Historic District, it has been a tourist attraction complete with creaky wooden floors, old fashioned candy jars, hoop cheese, and glass bottle drinks including Nehi and Crush. 

This store has been the heartbeat of 'The Square' for some time (the 100-blocks to the east/west/north/south of the main intersection of Main & Innes Streets in Salisbury is known as The Square). The general store was the gathering place and the center of activity in days gone past . . . and in Salisbury, it still is.
The storefront at 126 E. Innes Street has a fun history, as one might expect from a turn-of-the-century downtown building.  In addition to its life as a general store, the building used to house a roller rink on its second floor. Back in the day, entrepreneurs often found 'interesting' uses for their second story spaces. The historic Fifty-Fifty building on E. Bank street used to host 'Bare Knuckle Boxing' in the depression, and there were a few Burlesque theaters in town too! Items were purchased from O.O. Rufty's for the movie 'The Color Purple' to create a general store set. The general store in the movie, often thought to be O.O. Rufty's, was modeled after the Salisbury general store.
The full basement is dry and usable, offering the owner another 4100+ square feet of storage, or other, space. (One of Downtown Salisbury's shops houses not only retail space in their large basement, but has a small wine bar!)


The total square footage for all 3 floors, including the basement, is 12,390. That's a lot of retail and storage space . . . located on East Innes St. that sees approximately a 22,000 car count per day.

There is a parking area to rear, and next to one of the City's nicely refinished municipal parking lots that features lighting and plantings.

Businesses and business owners in Downtown Salisbury NC get support from Downtown Salisbury Inc., a non-profit organization formed for just that reason ~ to support the downtown area, implementing programs and activities that support vitality in the downtown.

The City of Salisbury additionally offers support in the form of MSD grants (Municipal Service District) and Innes Street Grants. The City is also working on an incentive program to support the development of living spaces in the second stories along Salisbury's downtown streets.