Our History

The Ammar Family, operators of the Magic Mart stores and Magic Mart Predecessor stores, Ammar Brothers, started their business in Willliamson, WV.  In 1911 three brothers immigrated from a small village on the slops of Mt. Hermon, approximately 20 miles northeast of the sea of Galilee in Syria.  They moved to seek opportunities in America with basic freedoms and ability to practice their Christian Faith.

Armed with a limited English vocabulary and a heart full of desire they began their new life as pack peddlers, carrying their wares. Pack peddler life was hard, walking many miles with heavy packs and bartering for a place to sleep.  They had no address, bedroom or bathroom of their own for nine years.  They walked from Alabama to Michigan and back several times a year.

Then opportunity comes at an auction in Williamson, WV. in 1920.  K.A. Ammar bought a store.  Hard work made possible additional stores, then in 1967 Ammars opened the first Magic Mart.  The Magic Mart stores grew and the older Ammar Brothers stores in downtown locations were closed

In 1991, Magic Mart experimented with a larger store size by expanding its store in Oceana, WV from 35,000 to 80,000 square feet.  By 2003 another major shift began the move for Magic Mart into middle size markets, cities of 10,000 to 35,000 population.  The first of the new middle market large-foor-print stores was located in Beckley, WV which was followed that same year with the opening of Salisbury, NC Magic Mart.  Two years later the moving of Belfry, Ky Magic Mart to a larger facility at the South Side Mall in South Williamson KY.  Subsequently, in 2007, another "Big Box" Magic Mart opened in Pulaski, VA, and the latter part of 2009 Magic Mart opened in Teays Valley, WV.  The year 2010 ended with another opening in Lenoir, NC our largest store to date, 110,000 sq.ft., making a total of 21 stores in 4 states.

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