By Barney Blakeney

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg May 26 in recognition of her service to the community as a business owner and for her civic engagement gave Mrs. Gladys Davis Powell Fludd the key to the city and proclaimed May 26 Gladys Davis Powell Fludd Day in the city.  Mrs. Fludd turned 88 May 26.

Mrs. Powell Fludd (seated), standing l-r Deborah Powell Anderson, Sandy Tecklenburg holding Mrs. Powell Fludd’s great grandson and Mayor John Tecklenburg

Mrs. Fludd and her late husband Paul Powell established Fair Deal Grocery in December 1953. Fair Deal Grocery is one of Eastside Charleston’s oldest consecutively operated neighborhood grocery businesses. The unprecedented flood of 2015 caused severe damage to the structure that served the Powell family three generations. It closed in January of 2016 to make repairs. That was the first time the store had closed beyond normal operating hours since first opening for business. It reopened Nov. 17, 2017 as Fair Deal Grocery “The Spot 47”.

The business was second home to the Powells and over the years Mrs. Powell Fludd served as neighborhood mom for her children and others, postmaster for residents and counsel to many who had less formal education than she. For many years she served as Democratic Party precinct officer for the area.

This article originally appeared in the Charleston Chronicle. 

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