The Shadow
Muhammad Riaz, owner of two convenience stores in Lynchburg, has expanded his convenience store business to Clifton Forge where he recently opened Food Festival Deli & Mart across from the U.S. Post Office.
The store that he now owns in Clifton Forge operated as a 7-Eleven Franchise Store under the late Clifton Forge Mayor James “Dooty” Morris before Alleghany County Public Schools consolidated with the Clifton Forge City Schools. The store was a virtual hub of activity for decades.
After Morris gave up the 7-Eleven Franchise and renamed it Morris Convenience Store, the business continued to prosper by serving as a gathering place for locals to drink coffee and discuss public issues.
Morris, a Vietnam veteran, served as Mayor of the City of Clifton Forge and led the fight to prevent the City from giving up its charter.
The first vote to revert to a town from a city resulted in a victory for Morris and his allies; however, a second vote a few years later resulted in the City of Clifton Forge giving up its city charter that was established on March 31, 1906, to become a town on Jan. 21, 2001.
After Morris sold his store, the new owner decided not to erect new signage and blocked the last three letters of Morris’ name, rendering the new name, Mor Convenience Store. Business dwindled with Morris out of the picture, and the new owner soon closed the store that remained vacant for years.
Riaz posted his “opening soon sign” that remained for months during the pandemic, leaving citizens to wonder if the store would be reopened at all.
A native of Punjab, Pakistan, Riaz came through by opening his store on Oct. 14, 2021. However, his deli was not up and running due to delays in deliveries of materials and structural modifications that were yet to be made.
Now that he has his deli in full operation, Riaz remarked, “Business is building slowly but surely.”
He noted that his other two stores in Lynchburg had been doing less business than normal but that business was picking up there too.
He observed, “My two stores in Lynchburg were slow the last couple of months, but they are okay now.”
As for the addition of his deli that he had anticipated would be operational by mid-Nov. of 2021 following his opening on Oct. 14, 2021, Riaz stated, “We opened about a month ago.”
Now Food Festival Deli & Mart has a fully operational deli, and customers can purchase burgers, hot dogs, chuck wagon, chicken tenders, chicken plates, chicken salad subs, chicken philly steak, chicken breast fillet, wingdings, chicken livers or gizzards, shrimp, fish, philly steak & cheese, cold turkey subs, tuna salad subs, grilled cheese and bologna sandwiches.
Riaz has also added some games for his customers to play, remodeled the inside of his store completely and added a coffee bar.
