The former drugstore is now an expanded 1950s style soda fountain. Owners Rick and Susan Fairless, lifelong residents of Irving, completely revamped the inside of the iconic business.
The store opens September 8th at 6 a.m. In addition to the soda fountain, the diner will also serve snow cones and gourmet coffee.
An attached gift store also has lots of candy and stuffed animals available for purchase.
Irving residents were saddened when the old Big State Drug Store closed. The landmark had graced Downtown Irving since 1948.
“It’s huge because Big State is Irving history,” said Rick Fairless, who with wife Susan Fairless were regulars at Big State.
The couple has a history with the drug store as they would go there on dates many years ago.
“We hung out at Big State our whole lives, my grandmother took me and my brother as early as I can remember,” said Fairless.
Susan is a sixth generation Irving legacy. She sees the new Big State as a place for families to come. “We’re hoping to bring younger families in,” she said adding, “most of the people that come in there are older an crowd and we’d like to get it where younger families get in there.”
Susan and Rick are not business novices. They run the highly successful Strokers motorcycle sales and parts business in Dallas, along with its tattoo parlor and a bar and grill.
"We will be open from 6am to 9pm, 8 days a week! We have increased our seating capacity to 80. We pou...red concrete on the south parking lot. We completely remodeled the interior & exterior of the building. When you enter this historic Irving business you will be walking back into a kinder, simpler, time in Irving, Texas history. Big State now has a 1950's feel to it. "
