[img_assist|fid=11272|thumb=1|alt=Hardware store to be transformed into shopping mecca] The vision of transforming Senoia’s downtown got another transfusion of hope this week as Peachtree City’s John Barrow completed his purchase of Hutchinson’s Hardware on the city’s Main Street. By the time Barrow is through with renovating the historic store, he hopes shoppers from throughout the region will be making a pilgrimage to Senoia. By next spring, Barrow hopes to have five or six unique stores in the building that will offer shoppers a different experience than the Avenue in Peachtree City or Newnan’s growing shopping area. Barrow, who operates A better Way Ministry in Peachtree City, which is affiliated with Atlanta City Church, will reap some of the proceeds from barrow’s conversion of the hardware store. “I felt the Lord drew me here. I feel like there’s a bigger plan going on in Senoia than we can grasp,” he said. Barrow sat at the Buggy Shop Museum in Senoia for about an hour one day and looked at the hardware store. He wondered if it would ever be for sale, and started talking to the Hutchinsons. The couple were in the middle of closing the business and communicated with Barrow for several months before the transaction was completed this week. Barrow is looking at consignment stores, a bakery and possibly an old-fashioned soda shop as possible tenants. “I’ve talked to Riverwood Studios and there building is almost complete across the street. This will help give all of us healthy traffic flow,” he said. During the holidays on the vacant lot next to the store, Barrow will be selling pumpkins, Christmas trees and firewood to bring an extra touch of small town flavor to the downtown. He expects construction and renovation to start immediately on the building and is hopeful that maybe one or two stores might be open for the holiday season. “The Lord is definitely at work here,” he said. login to post comments