Owner says move to Uhland 'worked out'

Before it burned to the ground in 2002, the Bon Ton Meat Market & Country Store had been a fixture of downtown Kyle for 76 years.

The old-fashioned general store was a place where Kyle residents swapped the day's gossip, ate barbecue, purchased groceries, tried on new sets of clothes and even bought farm and ranch equipment, recalls owner Craig Fuller, who took over the business from his father, Fox, in 1994.

"When I was young, it was kind of the hub for a lot of social and business stuff in the community," Craig said. "There were a lot of people who would meet there every afternoon to socialize and visit."

With about 30 employees on the payroll, he figures the Bon Ton was the second-largest employer in Kyle, behind only Hays CISD. But the Bon Ton's fortunes changed overnight on Nov. 27, 2002. Near quitting time, a manager smelled smoke coming from the men's restroom, and he discovered a fire in the trash can.

"He put it out with a fire extinguisher, but it had already got in the ceiling and just raced across the ceiling," Craig said. "Before they realized it, the whole building was almost engulfed. It was all they could do to get out of there."

Craig said he arrived at the store five minutes later to find the biggest fire he had ever seen. An investigator later told him that someone had tossed a cigarette into the trash can.

"I was in shock for about two weeks," he said. "I was just numb."

After talking to a few of his longtime employees, however, Craig said he decided to rebuild the store at a new location in Kyle. When he was unable to gain city approval to build at a new site he had purchased, he sold the property and eventually settled on the rural community of Uhland, about 7 miles to the east.

The Bon Ton reopened May 24, 2004, in a 10,000-square-foot building near the intersection of Hwy. 21 and Grist Mill Road. Today, the store employs 10 people and offers meats and sausages, daily barbecue plates, spices and seasonings mixed in-house, as well as staples such as produce, dairy and eggs.

"It's different," he said. "In Kyle, we had the same people every day. Here, our customer count is much lower, and some people we only see once every month, but as a rule they usually buy more when they're here. I have customers who travel Hwy. 21, and they'll stop by one time and check us out, and the next time they'll bring an ice chest and buy a lot."

The Bon Ton continues to offer practical items such as work gloves, and Fuller said the Bon Ton processed nearly 1,000 deer during the most recent hunting season.

Other than increasing promotions for the stuffed jalapeos, summer sausage and other items that he and his employees make on-site, Fuller said he has no plans to change the Bon Ton's way of business.

"We took a chance, and it worked out," he said. "I feel really lucky."

Market information

What does "bon ton" mean? It's French for "good taste" or "elegant style."

Where was the Bon Ton before it burned? The store was in the half block now occupied by Kyle City Hall at 100 W. Center St.

Who is the Bon Ton's longest-tenured employee? Katie Arnold has operated the store's cash register for nearly four decades, although she started in the barbecue room in the early 1970s.

Beaucoup memories

• 1926: Business partners Lex Word, Alex Kercheville and Jack Sledge open the Bon Ton in downtown Kyle. Word buys out his partners soon thereafter.
• 1950s: The Bon Ton donates store space for a reading room, becoming Kyle's first library.
• 1968: Fox Fuller leaves his job as a meat cutter at Hughson Meat Co. in San Marcos to purchase the Bon Ton.
• 1994: Fox's son Craig takes over the business after working for his father for nearly a decade.
• Nov. 27, 2002: The business is destroyed by a fire that began in the men's restroom.
• May 24, 2004: The Bon Ton reopens on Hwy. 21 in Uhland.

Bon Ton Meat Market & Country Store, 115 S. Camino Real (Hwy. 21), Uhland, 512-398-3810, www.facebook.com/bontonmeatmarket, Hours of operation: Mon.–Tue. and Thu.–Fri. 8 a.m.–7 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.–7 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Closed Wed.