Peninsula In Passage

Jim Shirley In 1997 Jim Shirley, a successful business executive, invested in four acres along Bridge Road in Bennett’s Creek. The deal included a tired, but locally beloved, farm market started by the Matthews family in 1963. Unexpectedly the tiny market became Shirley’s new project as he elevated it into a regionally recognized landmark without losing a kernel of its rustic charm. I bought the property simply as an investment. It was in a strategic location and I envisioned North Suffolk growing with the completion of the interstate. I planned to lease the market but the Matthews kids (Jodie, Wendy and Pam) talked me into keeping it open and 14 years later here I am. After 40 years in business Shirley didn’t want to spend a lot of time at the market. His only experience in the business was a stint in the First Colonial Store in Highland Biltmore (Portsmouth) when he was 14. But his business expertise and Jodie Matthews’ market experience meshed well. I tore the place out and added new equipment, cooked foods and salads. I brought in things that I liked, foods – all fresh, no preservatives - that the big stores couldn’t or wouldn’t stock. I grew up eating steamed crabs and took four years to find the right source for them. We worked hard to develop our fried chicken. Governor Mills Godwin’s house manager, George, used to come in every day and buy whatever was fresh to take home and cook for the Godwins. Now the market customers, who reflect the demographic of the community from construction workers to suburban homemakers, can occasionally find Shirley kicked back in a swivel chair in the market’s back room. In 2003 the Bennett’s Creek Market earned the tag “The Little Market that Can” during Hurricane Isabel. Power was knocked out all over the region but Shirley’s foresight in installing a large generator kept the market – and the community – stocked with ice and fresh cooked food. After 22 years in the area Shirley still considers himself something of a “come here” – but one who stayed. “There is a charm,” he says, “A sense of old community, here that you don’t get in new neighborhoods.