Surry Business

Two growing retail businesses in downtown Mount Airy will expand on Main Street after the first of the year.

Cybergear, 437 N. Main, will more than double its space when it takes over an adjacent store formerly occupied by All In A Basket at 439 N. Main. The building’s owner will open the wall dividing the two stores and remodel both interior spaces.

Cybergear sells Apple Macintosh and other computers, as well as a variety of consumer electronics. Co-owner Mark Spencer said the remodeled interior will have many design features similar to Apple retail stores.

He and his partner, Jacob Butner, will work out of their mobile unit while remodeling is under way, starting sometime after Jan. 1. Spencer said he hopes the new store will be open by Jan. 31.

Butner and Spencer have worked together since Spencer founded 802Link, the company that brought free wireless Internet access to downtown Mount Airy.

Just up the block from Cybergear, Brandt Scholz of Pilot Mountain is remodeling a vacant store at 401 N. Main (on the corner of Main and Virginia streets) into the new home for B&L Custom Jewelers. His business currently is in Main-Oak Emporium, 245 City Hall St.

Scholz is a Graduate Gemologist, Certified Insurance Appraiserâ„¢ and goldsmith with more than 30 years’ experience. He is a past president of the North Carolina chapter of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Alumni Association and a member of the American Gem Trade Association.

Scholz said he looks forward to having a Main Street storefront with a conspicuous location — he’ll probably need a new motto to replace B&L’s current one, “Mount Airy’s best-kept secret” — and more display space. One of his specialties is an extraordinary offering of colored gem stones now crowded into a few display cases at Main-Oak Emporium. He’ll also have more work space. Scholz restyles broken and outdated jewelry, repairs jewelry, resets diamonds and other stones and crafts custom jewelry. Finally, the new store will have more room for additional product lines, such as timepieces.

Scholz said he hopes to open the new store soon after Jan. 1.