Kelleys Taking Rowell Store Back To Its Original Roots

ROWELL - While most people who know Brian Kelley will associate him with building race cars, he will soon be recognized as the operator of the Rowell Store.Kelley, who is best known for working on race cars through Kelley Performance and Fabrication, recently decided to take on a new venture and take over the Rowell Store at 12700 Hwy. 63. He and his wife, Kelly, quietly re-opened the business on July 1. He plans to have it open from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday."I wanted to see it stay local, and go back to being a grocery store," Kelley said about his decision to venture outside his comfort zone and get into the store/food business.Kelley said he has been a frequent customer to the store throughout the years, and has seen it change hands and names in the 33 years he has lived in the Rowell area. So when the last tenant, Dively's One Stop, closed its doors earlier this year, Kelley said he decided to take a stab at it.One of the first things people will notice is that the name has gone back to what it was originally called, the Rowell Store, and it is once again a community store. Under the previous operator, Lauren Dively, most of the store shelves were removed as she focused mainly on serving prepared food.While Kelley said he appreciates having a local place to grab a sandwich, he said he also likes the idea of having a local place to buy a loaf of bread or some other item you might need in an emergency.Kelley admits that the convenience store and food business is foreign to him. He said has been in the automotive business his entire life, doing everything from rebuilding transmissions to building race engines that can crank out as much as 3,000 horsepower. He has built and driven both dirt track and drag cars, and has won point championships in the Outlaw class at the drag strips in both Centerville and Prescott.When Kelley made the decision to take over the store, he jumped in with both feet. He c...