By Kevin Stubblefield

Tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood in North Memphis sits a curious outlier among the houses. A two-story brick structure sits right at the sidewalk’s edge at the corner of Looney Ave and Decatur St. This relic from the past is an old sundry store, built in 1910 in the Whitesides subdivision in Smokey City.

The neighborhood store at 989 Looney Ave. had many different names and operators over the years – Pierantoni & Co., J.T. Coward, Mitchell’s Grocery, E.E. Dunn, American Savings Store, Rodgers Grocery, Greer & Brown Sundry & Grocery – but it has sat abandoned for decades, slowly decaying and seemingly destined for the same fate as many blighted buildings in Memphis: demolition.

In 2013, the building found itself with a new purpose: the canvas for an urban mural. Students from Humes Preparatory Academy worked with local artist Shea Colburn to create the Rise mural on the eastern and northern sides of the building. The mural uses Adinkra symbolism from the Akan people in Ghana to represent concepts or aphorisms.

Today, the more than century-old building is poised to start a new chapter in its history. CRA acquired the building in 2021, and Jones Urban Development was chosen to develop the property in 2025. Remediation and removal of asbestos have been completed, and 989 Looney will become a key part of a multi-lot redevelopment led by Andre Jones.

“It’s an unreinforced masonry building that had a tree growing inside it, asbestos, and a real need for structural strengthening,” Jones said. “The challenge is finding the right solutions without over-engineering; that’s a delicate balance with a building this old.”

The next phase will stabilize the current structure and build a new roof and back wall. The finished product will be a live/work or micro mixed-use building that maintains its historic character while modernizing its function.

“We’re keeping our options open, but the goal is for 989 Looney to be a productive, active part of the neighborhood again, the way it was for most of its life. Whatever the final use, it should be something that serves the community.”