T-L File Photo Kirke Porterfield works at Porterfield’s Drive-Thru in 2020. Due to health issues, the business is closing for good on Saturday. Porterfield’s Drive-Thru closing its doors Saturday

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Porterfield’s Drive-Thru Farm & Garden is shutting down for good after serving the area’s agricultural supply needs for close to 30 years.

Owner Kirke Porterfield said the doors will close at noon Saturday.

“My knee replacement didn’t go as planned, and I’m moving but I’m not moving very well. … I can’t load vehicles for anybody,” he said. “I can’t work there, so we’re going to close down.”

Moreover, he said his regular employee at the shop is having back issues and will no longer be equal to the heavy lifting the job requires.

“We weren’t figuring on closing. We’ve been getting shipments of topsoil, chicken manure, fertilizer, things like that. We’ve got a good bit of stuff, but she can’t work and neither can I, so that’s the way it is,” Porterfield added.

Porterfield said he does not foresee himself reopening the business.

“I think it’s permanent. I don’t know that we could find somebody to replace (the employee), the way we operate,” he said.

“A couple of people are talking about renting it from us and doing their own things, so I won’t be in business there but somebody might be. Or if I can’t do anything, then we’ll just lease it out for whatever somebody wants it for. … That’s a pretty nice piece of property there. I think there’ll be a lot of interest in it.”

Porterfield said he is looking at all options.

“I talked to the auctioneer today. He said it would be quick to have an auction, but if somebody wants to take it over as it is and add something else to the lineup, then I’d be receptive to that,” he said.

“We opened up in November of 1991, right around Thanksgiving,” he said, adding the store has not seen as much demand in recent years. “It was busier before, but things have slowed down a little bit. Used to be, we had three or four people working there all the time; now one person takes care of it. Business has slowed up. Normally with a business, when someone quits, you have somebody to take their place.”

The news came as a surprise to the public.

“A lot of people are shocked and sad, but everyone understands,” Porterfield said. “We were real busy today.”

The nearby Kirke’s Homemade Ice Cream store will remain open, operated by Porterfield family members.

“I can’t make ice cream for eight hours at a time like I used to, but they’re taking over. The ice cream store is in good hands,” he said.

“We’re saddened,” Wendy Anderson, director of the St. Clairsville Area Chamber of Commerce said. “He has been a staple, and Porterfield’s has been a staple in St. Clairsville for a long time. … You drove through, you’d say ‘hi,’ sometimes you’d see your neighbor. You would chat for a minute and you’d drive out. It was just a very nice place. It was a very homey place, and it’s just part of the town and part of the backbone of St. Clairsville, and I’m just very sorry that because of personal things it has to close.

“We would get salt for the front of the sidewalk, or we would get our cornstalks there sometimes, or we would get our hay for hay bales there,” she said. “It’s always been there. … When you get that type of business that is just the salt of the earth, the Porterfields are a wonderful family. It’s sad to see that go.”

The drive-through and ice cream store are located at 50505 Rehm Road.