Silverstreet’s P and D a step back in time

By Carson Lambert

clambert@civitasmedia.com

Co-owners Patty Dale, left, and Doug Dorroh along with Dale’s granddaughter Madison.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pd1.jpgCo-owners Patty Dale, left, and Doug Dorroh along with Dale’s granddaughter Madison. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

In addition to produce, P and D sells a variety of grocery items.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pd2.jpgIn addition to produce, P and D sells a variety of grocery items. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

This saw blade was handpainted by Patty Dale’s daughter, Shannon.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pd3.jpgThis saw blade was handpainted by Patty Dale’s daughter, Shannon. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

P and D Old Country Store and Market is located at 1115 Main St. in Silverstreet and can be reached at either 803-924-4373, 803-597-0063 or on Facebook.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pd4.jpgP and D Old Country Store and Market is located at 1115 Main St. in Silverstreet and can be reached at either 803-924-4373, 803-597-0063 or on Facebook. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

Patty Dale and Doug Dorroh acquired this fully operational 1940’s wood stove from a friend who was keeping it in storage.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pd5.jpgPatty Dale and Doug Dorroh acquired this fully operational 1940’s wood stove from a friend who was keeping it in storage. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

P and D stocks a variety of produce items which they purchase mostly from the Columbia farmer’s market.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pd6.jpgP and D stocks a variety of produce items which they purchase mostly from the Columbia farmer’s market. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

The counter, on which rests crafts and the register, was built by Doug Dorroh. The lamps were made from re-purposed antique Mason jars that belonged to Patty Dale’s grandmother.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_pd7.jpgThe counter, on which rests crafts and the register, was built by Doug Dorroh. The lamps were made from re-purposed antique Mason jars that belonged to Patty Dale’s grandmother. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

SILVERSTREET — If you’ve driven along the main drag in Silverstreet, you’ve probably noticed P and D Old Country Store and Market — an aging house converted into a business teaming with rustic nostalgia.

However, if you haven’t had the opportunity to check it out yet, here’s what you’ll find behind the quaint exterior.

Co-owners Patty Dale and Doug Dorroh (the store’s name derived from their first initials) keep their shop, which doubles as their residence, stocked with fresh produce, handmade crafts as well as general grocery items and firewood.

“Tomatoes are our big seller,” Patty said. “Even in the wintertime people come here and get their tomatoes from us.”

Doug said most produce sellers shut down around October and don’t open back up until the spring but P and D sets themselves apart by staying open the entire year.

In January 2013, the two started the store out of the back room of their home, selling firewood and produce they bought from the Columbia farmer’s market.

They even grew a garden of their own but it was hampered by too much rain that year and too little the following two.

“I didn’t even mess with it this year,” Doug said. “We had more money in it than we got out of it.”

The crafts are almost exclusively made by the tandem effort of Patty and her daughter, Shannon, and they see their biggest sales in the fall and winter with people decorating and buying gifts.

The house, which was built roughly 100 years ago, originally belonged to Patty’s great-great-aunt who passed it on to her grandmother who then passed it to Patty.

When they decided to open the store, they replaced the flooring as well as built a counter but most of the house’s originally features were already conducive to a country store and remain intact.

Patty and Doug have been together for the better part of a decade but their story stretches back much further than that.

“We kind of grew up together,” Patty said. “We went to school together and we dated when we were kids. We went separate ways and it all came back full circle.”

Patty said she’s always wanted to own a store, in particular a country store, and said she comes from a long line of “mercantile people.”

“I guess it’s just in my system and I couldn’t get it out,” she said.

Another part of it for Patty is her love of small town aesthetics which she fears are going by the wayside.

“Once all the little stores are gone it takes away from the town,” she said. “I really wanted to have something here to help our community.”

Although Patty said most of their customers don’t actually live in Silverstreet, they are patronized by a small group of dedicated locals.

“Even when we are closed I tell them ‘Call us, we’re here. If you need something this is your extended pantry,’” Patty said.

At one time Silverstreet had a total of four stores and Patty and Doug have memories of men seated around wood stoves and talking or playing cards.

Ideally Patty said she envisions P and D as that kind of a place — place where locals can gather to have coffee and socialize, although that dream hasn’t quite panned out yet.

“Everybody’s in such a hurry,” she said. “And that’s what I think the country store to me is — a place that you can just come in and slow down, get away from the hurried part of the world.”