Outside, at around 5:30 p.m, Ethan Blackmon, part owner and Chief Executive Officer of Blackmon Oil, which owns the Prescott store as well as eight others in Arkansas, spoke to the crowd that had gathered in front of the entrance. “We've been a family-owned local business for a long time. My great grandfather started the business in 1930. I’m honored and confident to get to be in charge of something that's been in my family for so long,” he said, adding that the success of the company is owed to the “communities we’ve been in.”
Blackmon said the focus of the company is on quality. “We set ourselves apart in that way, or at least we strive to do that and deliver something a little different from what everybody else is. So thank you all so much for being here today.”
He gestured toward and introduced Blackmon Oil Director of Operations Ashley Mitchell and explained, “It’s actually Chef Ashley Mitchell. She's been with us for a couple of years now, and has really taken our food programs and all of our operations to the next level, done a great job leading all of our managers.”
Then Blackmon explained the company’s affinity for choosing locations in small towns, like Glenwood, where the company’s central offices are, as well as DeQueen, Hope, Bearden and Murfreesboro, Mount Ida and now Prescott. “We don't ever want to be a [company] that just takes from a town and never gives back. So with that being said, we've got a check here that we're going to present today to Prescott High School and Principal [Tommy] Poole. $500. It’s in partnership with Exxon Mobil. We give money when we can but, more important, we want to be involved. So anytime we can do something, to be involved or to give back to the communities we want to do that.” He asked that communities call on Blackmon Oil if they are in need.
After the check was presented, Blackmon joined the crowd, many members of whom were in Halloween costumes as football players, tycoons or police officers, and helped cut the ribbon. Then he led a tour of the store itself, even allowing photos to be taken of the impressive kitchen toward the back where Pizza Inn pizzas and so many items on a diverse menu are prepared. The store also serves several flavors of ice cream, burritos, burgers, brisket, sausages, twice-fried cajun cracklins, lattes, cappuccinos and shakes/malts.
Blackmon, a 2012 alum of Glenwood High School and 2016 graduate of Ouachita Baptist University, said the store will eventually employ about 25.
