For 34 years, Roy Southard has been operating the Cork and Bottle Shop at 402 E. Victory Way, selling spirits and beer to a mostly drive-through public. In July, Roy’s life will change forever as he locks the door behind him for the last time.

The closing of the Cork and Bottle is tough for Southard. Despite his efforts to purchase the land that the business has been located on for nearly four decades, a neighboring business looking to expand purchased the property.

Now the little liquor store, which once housed a Dairy Queen, is scheduled to close July 10.

Southard said his customers are taking the news like they are losing a historical site.

“There’s a lot of customer loyalty here,” Southard said. “We’re just a small place, a working man’s store.”

This working man’s store has seen a lot of changes throughout the years.

Southard said the original owner acquired the first liquor license for the location, and kept the drive-through window when switching from food to liquor sales.

For a while, there were gas pumps at the store.

“We sold gas right here and made a nickel a gallon,” Southard said. “Then 7-11 came to town and built where the Kum and Go’s are now. That ruined our gas business.”

The liquor business has been more successful for Southard. He recalls starting with a small refrigerator and a two-door cooler. Craig’s population was about 3,500 then, a small fraction of today’s estimated 10,000 plus-residents.

He’s watched as Craig’s roster of liquor store business has changed throughout time. That list of businesses was once seven deep; later, it was reduced to only three. There are currently five liquor stores in the city, many of which are on the perimeter of town.

Southard will remember his customers fondly when he thinks about the store. He thanks them for their years of loyalty.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” he said, as he filled a drive-through order. “Most of my customers I know, not by name, but by what they drink.”

Southard estimates about 75 percent of his business occurs at the drive-through window.

His store stays busy with Whittle the Wood Rendezvous festivities across the street.

“It’s the best thing this town ever did,” Southard said about the yearly woodcarving event, which is Saturday.

“Everyone gets a chance to relax, forget about problems and have a beer in the park during the concert.”

Southard, who turns 67 this month, will let the liquor slowly run out until closing day. He will reorder beer until the end.

He said the business has allowed him to raise three families. He and his wife are raising two grandchildren after his daughter’s life was cut short by a traffic accident.

He always keeps on hand dog biscuits, suckers and bubble-gum for visitors at the drive-through window. The children and dogs remember, he said.

It’s that kind of customer attention he’ll miss providing, he said.

“One last Whittle the Wood, and the last Fourth of July, and I’ll be gone,” Southard said. “I guess we did all right.”