business

Clayton convenience store looking for a buyer

$Kathy Wyszynski didn't want to operate her father's store, the A&K Stop at \uFEFFOhio 49 and Westbrook Road in Clayton, \uFEFFafter he died, so she is selling it. Contributed photo$

Marc Katz Kathy Wyszynski didn't want to operate her father's store, the A&K Stop at \uFEFFOhio 49 and Westbrook Road in Clayton, \uFEFFafter he died, so she is selling it. Contributed photo

ENLARGE PHOTO

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 4:59 PM Thursday, May 19, 2011

CLAYTON — Inside are the counters, coolers, shelving units and equipment used to make A&K Stop a place to acquire fast and not-so-fast food from one of those rare locally owned convenience stores.

Clyde Edward “Ed” Smith ran the place, as he had Ed’s Sunoco, Smith Carryout and S&M Drive-Thru before that.

“He always made money,” daughter Kathy Wyszynski said as she recently ran a small flea market outside the light blue building on the corner of Ohio 49 and Westbrook Road.

“If he hadn’t gotten sick, this place would still be open.”

Alas, the store has been closed and became for sale even before Smith, 68, died Feb. 1, of cancer.

“I was helping him out here,” Wyszynski said, “but I didn’t want to run it myself. It was a great little business. There is a large volume of traffic that goes by here.”

A&K (the initials are for great-grandchildren), had been operated by Smith for eight years, just across the road from Meadowbrook Country Club.

The store sold beer and other drinks, candy, snacks and tobacco products, and offered pizza, chicken wings, subs and salads.

There was a patio outside with a covering where people could eat, and plenty of parking out front.

“He was always self-employed,” Wyszynski said. “He started out delivering the Dayton Daily News on his bicycle. I worked for him for 30 years (in the convenience store business) and he also built houses.

“Everybody liked him. People kept coming back because they knew of him.”

Recently, an interested party inquired about some of the store’s equipment, but Wyszynski said she doesn’t want to sell off the parts.

She said she wants someone to buy the store and begin operating it again.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article