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Black Dog Salvage celebrates accidental business that turned into 20 years of success

Business holding special anniversary open house Saturday

ROANOKE, Va. – One of the biggest stars in the Star City is celebrating a milestone.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Black Dog Salvage.

Mike Whiteside and Robert Kulp, co-owners and founders of Black Dog Salvage, are kicking off the 11th season of their hit show, "Salvage Dawgs," running a guest house and music venue and welcoming visitors from around the world to their warehouse. Their success story is one that may have never happened without a chance meeting between strangers who quickly found they had a lot in common.

“This thing was kind of accidental,” Whiteside said.

"If you can't sell the door, turn it into a table. If you can't make a table out of it, take it apart and use the wood to build something else. If the wood's no good, burn it," Kulp said.

12 years in, their charisma and chemistry combined with yet another chance opportunity and landed them a TV show on the DIY Network. The show turned them into stars and the Star City into a worldwide destination.

Their famous humble humor is rooted in strong values.

"Entrepreneurship, perseverance, doing something you love and then sticking with it," Whiteside said.

"It's surprising that we're looking around at all we've done, but I think we've got another good five years in us," Kulp said.

Black Dog Salvage is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a special open house Saturday. Click here for more information.