Thursday, December 27, 2007
Kenna Holm
Mom and Pop Stores
Do you remember all the fun little Mom and Pop markets we used to have here in Payson
years ago? I got to thinking how I miss those little places.
There was the Westside Market down on 700 West and Utah Avenue. I’m not sure what
year it was built but it was built by Johnny Wise who also built some little apartments like motel
rooms around the corner between 700 and 800 West on 100 South. He also had a couple of gas
pumps to the side of the market.
In 1950, LaMarand ArzleyLosser cameback to Payson to be around familyand theythought it a better place to raise their two children, Janice and Neil. They bought Johnny Wise out and continued on with the market. John Done was the meat cutter for LaMar and he taught him how to cut meat which he took over completely when Mr. Done died. He kept the gas pumps busywith all the farmers who would drive in and fill up their farm equipment with gas.
They carried quite a large line of groceries and their fresh meat was some of the best in town. LaMar would always cut it just like you wanted it.
LaMa rwas such a good thoughtful man. He would deliver groceries to people that were not able to get out. Janice said he delivered to Annie Wilson a lot as well as many others. He also delivered groceries to the hospital kitchen. The ladies there always gave him a bad time (I am sure he gave it right back too.)
The Lossers decided right away that they would not open on Sunday and LaMar always
claimed he made just as much in six days as he would in seven. He felt he never lost a penny by
closing on Sunday.
Some of the ladies that worked at the market were Lena Losser, Donna Andrus, and Vione Reece along with the Lossers and their kids.
In 1962 the freeway came through Payson and took out the market. It was missed.
Another fun market was Mrs. Smith’s Market on 300 West Utah Avenue. She was the mother of Gladys Wilson (for whom the golf coursewas named along with her husband Stan). Mrs. Wilson was a little woman and I just loved her.
In 1948, Rex and Harriet Mendenhall, who lived in Orem, drove over to see his sister Thelma Taylor and as they passed Mrs. Smith’s Market, there was a sign in the window that said, “For Rent.” They stopped and checked it out and made the decision to rent the market. At that time, they had one little girl, Jane and were expecting another child.
They moved into the back of the store where there was a small apartment. It was probably where Mrs. Smith lived also. Slowly they added more to the store and enlarged it. In 1952, the family moved to a home down on North Main Street and then turned the apartment into a storage area for the store.
Our kids and everyone elses loved to go therefor their candyfix. Theycarried so manykinds of penny candy. Some were even two for a penny. Rex was always so good to let the kids come around the counter and pick what they wanted.
When my brother came over from Orem to visit my parents, Grandpa would give them some change and they would hotfoot it up to Mendenhall’s. To this day, they still talk about how they liked to go there.
I loved to get my Coke or Pepsi there because they kept the cooler so cold the drinks were almost slushy. That was before cans, they were in bottles and we would take back the empties so
we didn’t have to pay a deposit.
There were several that worked for them along the way. My daughter, Kelly, worked there for a long time. Rex’s sister, Thelma, was there most of the time.
Harriet said that when they decided to close the store, Naomi Hillman just had a fit because she walked down every day and had a Coke. Now there wouldn’t be a place she could get those cold, cold drinks. It was a sad day to see Mendenhall’s Market close.
Who could forget Chipman’s little store? It was actually built by Mr. and Mrs. Naylor. I forgot their first names. Mr. Naylor was blind and they built it as a confectionary store. They had a juke box and pinball machines that paid off with real nickels. This was before it became illegal.
In 1945, Harold and Florence Chipman along with their two children, Carol and Cordell, moved to Payson from American Fork and bought the store from the Naylors.
Cordell told me his parents had the store paid off in just two years. They lived in an apartment in the back of the store. They took out the pinball machines but kept the soda fountain and juke box. It was a real hangout for the kids after the dances and games.
In 1950, they added groceries to the store. They had a big popcorn machine that was a real magnet when they were popping corn. The smell was wonderful. We used to stop in there before we went to the show at the old Star Theater. We could get candy, pop corn, ice cream or about anything else we wanted.
I have a soft spot for the little confectionary, that is where I met my husband. He was with a friend eating a strawberrysundae at the soda fountain and the friend, who I knew also, introduced us and like they say, “The rest is history.” We have now been married for 52 years.
Cordell reminded me that in those days the hamburgers were only nineteen cents. Can you believe that?
Harold died in 1980 at the age of 83. The store was sold and Florence went back to American Fork. It was a special little store.
When the Naylors sold to the Chipmans, they built another store on the southwest corner of Utah Avenue and 100 West. Since Mr. Naylor was blind, he had a big black dog that stayed by his side all the time. He was a kind man and some would say that Mrs. Naylor was a little more stern.
Mr. Naylor would wait on people and always get everything right. It was like he had a sixth sense. Mary Lou Daley told of how she took her little boy, Dean, in and Mr. Naylor wanted her to put him up on the counter so he could “see” him. She said he felt his little face and head and commented that he was a fine-looking boy. It really touched her how kind he was.
In 1957, Leo Daley bought the Naylors out. He had just recovered from a serious auto accident that took the life of his wife Bonnie in 1955. He continued with the groceries and later added a little chicken place in back called, Leo’s Chicken. He went on to add other Leo’s Chicken stores around the state.
Merlene Sanford was working for him for a while. They fell in love and were married. They later sold the store and moved to St. George.
There was a little store up across the street east of the tennis courts at the park. It was Crook’s Market. It was owned and run by Vance Crook and his mother, Vera. They lived in a house east of the store that was set back some ways from the street. I was a hangout for the kids from the southeast part of town. Vance also worked for the Post Office. When he was delivering mail, his mom would run the store.
JoAnn Haskell Stevenson said she remembers the hardwood floors and the old-fashioned cash register. She said they would take pop bottles in and trade for penny candy. They could get two or three cents per bottle. She said they also had some of the freshest baloney in town. Mrs. Crook passed away and then Vance died a few years later. The store was closed and later on it was torn down.
The last little store I remember was the store on First West and Fourth South. It was called Dowdle’s Market. Later Christi and Joe Kropt bought the store from Glen Dowdle and ran it for several years. They carried groceries, ice cream, candy all the other good things.
Talking to Gene Colvin, he told me a funny little story about Dowdle. He said anyone could go in there and buy beer, even on Sunday. They just went in and said they wanted a sack of potatoes. Dowdle would go in the back and fill a sack with beer and come out and say, “Here’s your potatoes.” Gene and Charlotte Colvin bought the market from the Kropts. Charlotte and Christi were sisters.
Charlotte said they had the biggest selection of penny candy there was in town. They had a lot of trouble with the school kids when they came in during lunch of after school in droves. They had a real problem with the kids stealing so they started limiting the number of that could be in the store at a time. It started out at six, then five, then four and finally two. The Colvins finall ysold the store to Troy Lerwill. He turned the building into a bicycle shop.
It was fun talking to Gene who is 83. Needless to say, he could remember a lot more than I could. Golly, isn’t it fun to remember when...
No comments:
Post a Comment