After four decades of operating gas stations and convenience stores in Cherokee County, Roy Cain of Keithsburg is calling it quits.

Cain opened his first station and store on Cartersville Street in Canton in 1970. He has operated five in the county since that time and has been operating Cain's Kwik Shop at 2916 Hickory Flat Highway/Highway 140 in Canton since 1988.

The store has been a popular meeting spot in the Canton and Hickory Flat community. Cain's decision to sell the business and retire has customers wondering what will happen to their hangout spot. Cain, 66, said the store is in the process of being sold and hopes to have the deal completed this week.

"I am a little concerned. I really wonder if it will be the same," said Henry May of Canton, who visits the store often. "There are not too many other places like this."

May wishes Cain luck in his retirement and wishes for luck for the customers as well.

"I just hope we are as lucky that someone like him buys the store and keeps it like it is," he said.

After Cain took over his current store on Hickory Flat Highway, he noticed a lot of people buying a cup of coffee and a pastry every morning.

"I thought, 'I would love to have a biscuit with my coffee,'" he said, leading him to expand the store to include a deli, offering made-from-scratch biscuits.

"It has kept me in business," he said about the popularity of the deli. "Most everybody knows about it."

The parking lot fills up in the morning with people coming in the store "just to shoot the bull," Cain said.

The merchandise at the store has changed over the years. Cain used to carry items such as hammers and nails and canning equipment, but those items have disappeared as development has brought more shopping options to the community.

Cain said he will worry about the employees at the store once he moves on.

"Hopefully, everything works out good for them," he said, noting his plans for retirement include traveling the country with his wife, Lynn.

Patty Williams, a cashier at the store who has worked there for seven years, said customers ask about Cain and what he is going to do after he retires.

"I don't blame him," she said about his retirement. "He has done this forever."

Cain said he will miss the customers, too.

"Most of them are just good country folk," he said. "I've made a lot of friends. I'll still see them. I'll come back here and get a biscuit. The biscuits are good."