A storeowner long ago once said that the key to their success was their location. Two Butler County businesses are currently testing that adage to see if it holds true. Hainje’s and the Butler County Bank have both opened locations on the Greenville By-pass in hopes of spawning new customers and clients.

&uot;Basically, we value our customers,&uot; said Vic Norris, manager of Hainje’s. &uot;What we have now and the ones we’ve had. We want to make their shopping experience easier for them and us to do business. We are going to have more showroom space better parking and more items to choose from. Everything in one place, warehouse and stuff is all in one place, which will make it more convenient for the customer. We are going to try to broaden the selection a little bit.&uot;

Hainje’s formerly located on Commerce Street, and a part of Greenville’s Downtown replaced their two-story furniture showroom with a massive one-story building. The new building, which is located next door to the new Butler County Bank offers customers a larger variety of merchandise as well as having their warehouse on the premises.

&uot;Business was great, we had a great turnout,&uot; said Norris. &uot;We’ve had a great response and had a lot of traffic. Everyone seems to be pleased with our new location and the convenience to get here. They like having everything on one level and as a result having more to choose from.&uot;

Hainje’s also had the opportunity to celebrate the move by having it’s opening on Feb. 24, 2005. The store will have it’s grand opening on March 10, 2005 and will last through that weekend.

While Hainje’s moved locations, the Butler County Bank is brand new to the City of Greenville.

&uot;We felt like the by-pass is still the best location in Greenville for a business right now,&uot; said Johnson. &uot;Right now, it’s sort of where thinks are happening in Greenville. We think that the by-pass will be expanded in future years to a four lane or even a five-lane highway. So we felt like we are close enough to the hub of activity, but far enough away from the congestion. We have an entrance from both the by-pass and New Searcy Road.&uot;

What began as an idea and a trailer, is now a full-fledged bank open to the public right now, with an official grand opening slated for March 20, 2005, which is a Sunday afternoon.

&uot;We felt like there was a need for another locally owned, community-type bank here in Greenville,&uot; said William Johnson, president of the Butler County Bank. &uot;We just felt like there was a void to fill there. Home office is in Camden, Camden National Bank. When the Hyundai Tier 1 Supplier came to Greenville, we felt like this was going to be the impetus that made Greenville grow. We felt like if we were going to ever do this, then now is the time to do it. In a nutshell, we felt like it was the growth of Greenville and then a bank like this in a community like Greenville would do well here.&uot;

The Butler County Bank, which is a branch of the Camden National Bank has been open for business for a couple of weeks now and according to Johnson has already reached nearly $14 million in loans and $13 million in deposits which is what he thought the bank would do during the first year.

&uot;I think this has been a good move,&uot; said Johnson. &uot;Moving into the new building, we hope will be a spur for some additional growth. I feel good about Greenville future and I feel good about our future. Because we are here filling, what I call a void, by offering some services that haven’t been offered.&uot;