Anderson County community worries adult store is coming

ANDERSON COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ)- When a general store that served Anderson County for decades was sold last week, people living nearby hoped new owners could help revitalize the community.

Now, they worry the new store could do just the opposite.

When shopkeepers in Anderson County open for business each day, Rebecca McKnight is there unlocking her shop door.

She organizes and stocks, but she also checks leather and lace.

McKnight’s wares aren’t what you see on Main Street, but she says the adult book store she manages is a business all the same.

“Right, we’re just another business like anybody else,” McKnight said.

She says BJ’s DVD & Lingerie has been open almost 12 years and the husband and wife who own it keep it clean and respectful.

“A lot of people come in for help…it’s not all negative,” McKnight said.

Now, there’s no trouble, but McKnight says when the store first opened, there was a little tension in the community so she sympathizes with the people who just bought Sparks General Store about 20 minutes away.

Neighbors say they fear the store that sold them items such as milk and eggs for decades will now start selling items like porn and lingerie.

“It’s just kind of disappointing and disgusting,” Larry Morgan said.

Morgan lives across the street. He says the new owner told the sheriff he owns a chain of adult book stores.

Now, Morgan and his neighbors think a store, like the one McKnight manages on the other side of the county, is on its way.

“It doesn’t align with our moral values and it’s terrible for our children, grandchildren,” Morgan said.

He says the father and son who own the business across the street have helped revitalize the area with a new building. He was hoping the new owners nearby would do the same. Now, he’s worried about his property value.

“In hindsight, we all would’ve bought the property,” Morgan said.

There’s not much else the community can do.

Morgan says the plot is zoned for business. Everything the new owner has done is legal.
All the community can do is wait to see if this old sign flashes a big xxx in neon over the Bluegrass Parkway.

ABC 36 did try to reach out to the new owners of that store through the man who signed the deed.

He never responded.