Its days as a community gathering place and general store, on the other hand, are just beginning -- all over again.

The shop at 901 W. Main St. in Carrboro is being reborn as a sort of updated version of the Johnny's circa 1970s.

The building has been around since the early '30s. Although it has gone through several guises, it has always been a popular place for people to gather. For many years Johnny's was known as the place in town to buy fishing tackle, sip a cup o' joe and chew the fat.

Former owner Johnny Howard closed the store in July. Brian Plaster and Jan Halle bought it, and the new owners have been working hard to restore it. They hope to start serving coffee and pastries by Jan. 15, 2008.

Plaster is fixing up the shop so people can drop by the store like they used to, even though he won't be selling cartons of nightcrawlers or buckets of bait fish anymore. He wants to offer a quick cup of coffee for people on the go in the mornings, while offering high quality convenience-type goods in the back. The side yard will feature seasonal items, as it did for years under Howard's ownership, and other offerings.

Right now the side yard is thick with Christmas trees for sale. In the fall, Plaster plans to sell pumpkins there, and the rest of the year it'll be a sort of yard sale hodgepodge.

A Latino tienda has been open for a number of years in a portion of the building, and Plaster said that will stay where it is. Plaster wants to refurbish the exterior, with new windows and non-vinyl siding. He also wants to help the tienda maximize the space inside so it can carry more products, and he's renovating the apartment upstairs in hopes of renting it out.

Plaster, who used to own a welding business called The Metal Shop on Brewer Lane, said the store will keep the name "Johnny's," because people already recognize the name, and because he wants it to carry the same kind of atmosphere as the old Johnny's did.

He has already hung up his vintage Coca-Cola and Sunbeam bread signs. He wants to serve traditional drip coffee -- no lattes, mochas and cappuccinos, he said.

Howard had wanted to retire for some years but wanted to make sure the right person took over the place. Howard wanted a new owner who would keep a small grocery store, who would allow the Latino tienda in the front to stay and who would maintain it as a gathering spot for the community. For four years Plaster thought about it, but held off.

"I knew it would be out of my range price-wise," Plaster said. "And time passed by, and suddenly it was on the market. And I was like, 'Oh my God, they're going to sell it.' And I couldn't help but think how I would feel when I saw that sign that said 'Under Contract.'"

He was afraid someone would buy it and turn it into condominiums, he said.

Then he found Halle, the mother of one of his friends, who believed in the same idea he did. She understood what Plaster was trying to accomplish, and she joined him in buying the place.

People pull over when they see the Christmas tree yard on the side of the road. They expect Johnny to greet them. Instead, Plaster emerges from behind the firs.

"Hi, I'm Brian," he says, and then he explains who he is and what he has in mind for the place.

He wants to sell gourmet cheeses, wines and coffee, among other foods.

"It's got to be local, it's got to have a history, and it's got to taste good," he said. "It's a convenience store for people who enjoy quality convenience."

Although some people are sad to see the bait shop go, many are glad to see it's still going to be a neighborhood-friendly general store.

"Johnny's was a wonderful place," said Joe Woodman, 55, who used to take his two sons there to stock up before they went fishing. "They were always keeping us up-to-date on the latest bait. I think every kid needs a bait shop in his life growing up."

He said he grew up near one in Florida.

"It's one of those spots," Woodman said. "And you can trust it. It's a shame to see those kinds of things disappearing off the landscape. "It's a place where people can congregate. There aren't many [of these places] left, you know. People don't really go to church anymore."

The walls of the building still hold memories from the days before it became Johnny's.

John Rosenthal, a well-known photographer and artist, lived in the upstairs apartment room in the summer of 1968. At that time, he said, the store was a gas-and-groceries place called Beal and Tilman's. He was 26 or 27, and had just moved to Chapel Hill to begin pursuing his doctorate in English. It was a memorable if difficult time, he said.

"It was a miserable summer," he said, because it would reach 110 degrees in the apartment on some days. He eventually figured out he could rent an air-conditioning unit to put in his window.

"You couldn't eat. You couldn't sleep. I was trying to decide if I was going to run underground or go to Canada if I got drafted," Rosenthal said. "It was a terrible time. And my girlfriend was breaking up with me. And Bobby Kennedy had just been assassinated. That affected the whole summer, it seemed like."

Howard, 62, who now lives in Pittsboro, opened Johnny's Sporting Goods in January 1972 -- first on West Weaver Street, then at the location on West Main Street five years later.

Howard was born and raised in Orange County. He sold pumpkins and Christmas trees in the yard back then, too. And although Johnny's specialized in fishing tackle, many of the people who liked to chew the fat at Johnny's didn't even fish, he said. They just gathered there to talk -- about the stock market, the weather, the North Carolina State Fair.

"It was just cozy. It was ritualistic. I mean, you weren't really going fishing unless you went to Johnny's and talked to a couple of people there," Woodman reminisced. "There were always guys in the back, telling stories, shooting the bull. That was Johnny's."

Howard let the tienda open in the building about seven years ago. He closed Johnny's in July while the tienda stayed open, and then he sold the building to Plaster in October.

The overhead was just getting to be too much, he said, and he couldn't compete with places like Wal-Mart and Dick's Sporting Goods.

He had bought the property for $40,000 in 1977. Orange County land records show that the land and the building are now valued at $221,468.

Howard is retired and lives in a house he built himself. Does he miss Johnny's?

"Oh yeah," he replies. "I miss my customers, is the main thing. I miss a lot of the good people who came in over the years. A lot of people have passed away."