Alex Hendrickson
Paul & Allison Budslick
Like a good recipe, the best sources are sometimes kept secret—hidden from broad view, shared by word of mouth.
Consider Duke’s General Store your new secret source. Tucked inside the White Bridge Auto Wash, the store is a trove of great recipes, in the form of cookbooks, and so much more.
The White Bridge Auto Wash is no secret spot—it’s been one of the city’s top full-service car washes since Karl Peters opened it in 1987. “Karl’s Wunder Wash” remains a go-to. In 2013, Peters’ stepson, Paul Budslick, took over the business and he and his wife, Allison, have kept the legacy alive. And while there’s always been a retail space in the lobby at White Bridge—it once housed a travel agency and most recently a gift and card shop—during a renovation in late 2018, the Budslicks decided to fill the space with something of their own.
Inspired by small general stores and gas station pit stops, they opened Duke’s (named for Allison’s maiden name) in March 2019, bringing a fresh, bright, modernization to the space, with an eye toward the culinary. It’s hard to miss the striking wall of cookbooks that sits to one side.
Alex Hendrickson
“I love cookbooks, so I started with the ones I’ve loved cooking from over the years,” Allison says.
The selection has grown and now ranges from Southern classics, like The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock to modern favorites, including Cravings by Chrissy Teigen, Jubilee by Toni Tipton-Martin, and Soul Food Love by local authors Caroline Randall Williams and Alice Randall. They carry nearly 80 titles.
To supplement the books, there are specialty pantry items and packaged foods, like chocolate from Olive & Sinclair, Delta Blues rice, plus jams, Bloody Mary mix, and roasted pecans. The store’s shelves are also filled with barware, entertaining accessories, candles, puzzles, cards, and more.
1 of 3
Alex Hendrickson
2 of 3
Alex Hendrickson
3 of 3
Alex Hendrickson
When the car wash had to close down this spring due to the pandemic, the store shut down with it. But as the wash reopened, first with drive-through exterior washes, Allison says that Duke’s turned to social media to offer curbside and delivery orders, and started selling gift baskets, which have been hugely popular.
“We started doing customized quarantine baskets, which are meant to keep people’s spirits up,” she adds.
A basket might include a just-released cookbook, a prayer candle honoring Dolly Parton, some snacks, and a humorous stuck-in-quarantine notecard.
The car wash and the store are now re-opened for business with social distancing measures—you can still drive your car through the wash yourself, and full-service washes now come with a disinfecting upgrade. And the store continues to offer curbside pick-up and delivery for its goods—which might be just the way to pass along the news about your new secret source.
Duke’s General Store, inside White Bridge Auto Wash, 212 White Bridge Pk., 615-352-6388; whitebridgeautowash.com; @dukesgeneralstore