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GREENSBORO - Nancy and Roger Kimbrough have bought the Bestway, the seven-aisle grocery store at The Corner, the place of many names.

Their experience? Well, let Nancy tell you.

"When we had to eat, I went to the grocery store."

That could qualify any of us. But Nancy and Roger, husband and wife, have one distinct advantage: decades of working retail. They once worked in the same store before they ventured to California, had kids and lived down the street from David Crosby.

Yeah, that David Crosby.

Today, they've ditched their power suits, slipped into jeans, and once again, they're selling merchandise, side by side, using the same skills they first learned 23 years ago when they met at Macy's in Atlanta.

Except this time, their merchandise is quirkier, and their professional playground is tinier.

Way tinier.

Nancy once ran Hecht's at Greensboro's Friendly Center as its general manager and divisional vice president. So, she got used to zipping around a big store in open-toed pumps and a sharp black suit.

These days, she's at the Bestway in the crow's nest, a small office above the three registers. She's in jeans and comfortable shoes, wearing her son's jacket or her daughter's sweater to keep warm.

But she doesn't stay there long. Neither does Roger. They'll step from the crow's nest to answer questions from customers they've gotten to know by name, face, family or family story.

"I've shopped here all my life," they've heard, "and my grandfather shopped here, too."

That's the way Bestway is. Since 1947, there's always been a grocery store at the elbow of Walker and Elam. First, it was an A&P. Back then, employees wore hats and uniforms. Roger even has the picture.

Now, it's Bestway. And it's considered the city's longest continuously run grocery store.

It's a place where you'll find in line a judge, a sculptor and a skinny kid with a piercing through his eyebrow. They all shop there, underneath item signs that feel as archaic as a rabbit-ear antenna on a console TV.

So, Bestway is a Greensboro time capsule. It feels as familiar as a family's heirloom quilt, and it anchors the Whiskey District, or Greensbohemia or simply The Corner, the intersection of Walker and Elam, the place of many names.

The Kimbroughs bought Bestway last month. You already can tell the difference. The flip-flops and banquet plates are gone from the bargain shelf up front, and the motor oil no longer sits catty-corner to the shelves of corked and screw-top wines.

The motor oil is in the back. Along with the light bulbs.

There's also three new fancy cash registers, and on Monday, at least 20 people were "tagging the store," or indexing every item in it to help organize inventory and keep track of sales.

Over the next two years, the Kimbroughs plan to spend $250,000 on renovations. They'll put in a new floor, new coolers, new frozen-food cases and new shelving.

They also plan to bring in a better assortment of items - including locally grown produce - as well as hire a butcher to resurrect the store's old meat market in the back.

The way Roger sees it, he and Nancy can double the store's volume. Ask him, and he'll bring out an 80-page business plan.

And if everything goes well, Roger believes he and Nancy can open another small grocery store.

Where? Downtown, he says.

And why? Roger just wants to stay. So does Nancy.

Roger is 51; Nancy, 47. Eight years ago, they moved from California to get closer to family and, according to Nancy, find sweet tea. Nancy ran Hecht's, Roger sold antiquarian, out-of-print books, and their children, David and Courtney, went to schools nowhere near Neverland Ranch.

Yeah, that Neverland.

The Kimbroughs looked for something that would help them stay in Greensboro.

That something is Bestway, the quaint grocery store in the place of many names, where grandfathers once bought Rose Potted Meat.

And still do. On Aisle 2.

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com