Chiappini's continues as Old Florida relic in Melrose

For more than 80 years, there has been a constant in Melrose that locals and tourists can go to for a drink or snack with the feel of Old Florida.

Chiappini’s is a gas station, bait store and convenience store at the northwest border of Putnam County on its third generation of owners.

The store has operated since 1935. Robin and Mark Chiappini have run it since 1984. The store is an institution in Melrose, located on the corner of State Road 26 and State Road 21.

Inside the store, eyes are immediately drawn to the taxidermied game (most are donated) and old-fashioned products. Visitors can buy beer, bait, cigars or candy. The Chiappini’s also stock the store with locally-made soap, beef jerky, hot sauce and beer.

“We’ve been here for people since the 1930s,” Robin Chiappini said. “A lot of customers’ grandparents came here as kids when they were in high school and we talk about that.”

Numerous authors have sought out the store as a relic of Old Florida, Robin Chiappini said. It began as a Gulf Oil Station under Chiappini’s grandfather “Papa Joe” and later under Chiappini’s father, Francis, and uncle, Maurice. The store was paid off at a penny a gallon by the early 1950s.

He said the store’s reputation grew by word of mouth. Its exterior is eye-catching, if not for the old look of the building, but the sheer number of items that are offered.

“Every person who comes in here brings someone else by,” Robin Chiappini said.

It’s been visited by the likes of Babe Ruth, Doris Day, Billy Graham and Steve Spurrier. A picture of Babe Ruth posing with two fish he caught near Melrose hangs above the register. Roger Maris and Richard Boone are among the store’s other famous visitors.

Melrose is near multiple former military bases. Robin Chiappini said soldiers returning from World War II were eager for a fight and used the store’s wood stools as weapons, which prompted “Papa Joe” to buy metal barstools.

One regular was J.R. Smith, or “Smitty,” who was colorblind and couldn’t join the Army Air Corps, so he flew in North Africa for the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

The man had a thick handlebar mustache and debonair sense of style. Smitty was also a former college football player, who insisted he escorted Vivien Lee to the premiere of “Gone with the Wind” at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre.

Smitty was a decades-long regular at Chiappini’s with coffee in the morning and beer at night. He later died at the store.

Robin Chiappini recalled a traveling priest, Father Ed Yerkes, who taught several children in Melrose how to drive. He said the Florida Highway Patrol was told not to pull over Yerkes because he was on a mission, he said with a laugh.

“To us, he will always be a saint,” Robin Chiappini said. “To me, the most famous customers are the ones who served in World War I and World War II.”

To that end, Robin Chiappini has encountered dozens of interesting connections to the store. The store’s rustic hand crank-operated cash register is being fixed by the granddaughter of the man who sold it to his father.

“We had it forever,” he said.

Much-loved store employee Eddie Joe Parrish died in July. He worked at the store for more than 40 years. Parrish started the store’s “Great Worm Giveaway,” which encouraged young people to fish and he was always willing to pump gas or assist a customer.

“It’s surreal without him here,” Robin Chiappini said. “Everyone loved Eddie Joe.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the store shut down for about six months before reopening in September. Live music at the store’s pavilion also restarted recently.

“It wasn’t worth reopening for a while,” Robin Chiappini said. “It took a bit of work.”

The store has been on the market since summer 2019. Robin Chiappini said he is ready to step away for a much-needed break.

“I can’t count how many hours we put into the store,” he said. “I’m ready to retire.

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