Mom and Pop Grocery Stores and the Brittingham Family

Below Richard Carpenter recalls the little Mom and Pop grocery stores around Nevada in the 50's, 60's and 70's or as I like to say BW (before Walmart) As a Brittingham us kids enjoyed the Cottey Corner Market on W. Cherry St. when we lived at 915 W. Cherry. The best memories were of OB market as it was called by locals (Oberlin and Breckenridge) there Mom and Dad had a monthly charge account, Mom would ring up the store with her daily order and they would deliver for 25 cents! When we needed school supplies we stopped in before school and got our pencils and Big Chief tablets. When we lived on Main St. and Marty got his driver's license he would pick up Mom's daily grocery order before school. We parked in the alley, ran over to the Bakery and off to school. 

Another market was Maxwell's with 2 locations, one on 71 HWY and the other at Atlantic Street. Marilyn and I used to visit Maxwell's with Martha Braswell, our neighbor who we used to spend the weekend with. She let us buy whatever we wanted, CoCo Puffs, blue berry muffins, grape jelly, french toast with peanut butter and the Jiffy Pop stove top popcorn were a few of our favorites. Her husband Max would let me drink coffee with 7 teaspoons of sugar!

In the late 60's Nevada got a Piggy Wiggy and Foodtown stores. These stores competed with each other with gold bond and S&H green stamps. 

Hi Kaye,

Richard Carpenter also commented on his status.

Richard wrote: "Kelly Bradham and I visit about Nevada’s past every now and then. From sports to many other topics, we both like remembering the Nevada of our youth. One of our favorite topics has to do with the small mom and pop grocery stores that used to be everywhere in Nevada.  I received more phone calls about that article than any I had written for some time. This gave me incentive to go back to the Library, check out the old business directories, and see what I could find regarding those former neighborhood grocery stores.

Once again, I apologize if I have left off my list, your favorite store. As is often the case after publication, many people tell me of names I have forgotten to include. A good example is Chrisenberry’s. Several people reminded me of this store/ gas station that was located at the corner of Austin and Prewitt. Cox’s (family) Markets were found it two locations. One was on Cherry just east of the Legion Hall. The elder Mr. Cox operated this one. His son had the other family market at 629 S. Main where Ed Peterson now has his dental office. This last one was located only a half a block from my Grandmother’s home. Like many of the other small stores it commonly had charge accounts which people paid once a month. I was sent many times to pick up something for Grandmother, and I was so proud when I got to say “charge it.” 

About eight blocks due west was another neighborhood store called Ewing’s, at 627 S. College. Although I did not go there often, I knew many of the kids in that neighborhood, and they loved Ewing’s just as much as the kids from my neighborhood loved Cox’s. Ferguson’s (owned by Charley Ferguson) was to be found at 515 N. Ash. Charley was known to many kids because his store was so close to all the schools. When I went to Bryan Grade School it was one of our favorite stops, and Kelly Bradham considered it his favorite.

 Many of these little mom and pop markets had their own fresh meats and produce. In fact just about anything you find in a super market of today you could buy there. Each had it’s own personality and loyal customers. To many of us the passing of these stores from our community was sad. 

Here are some of the names I found, but there are more for sure. Andersons, Bill’s Food Mkt., Dowell’s, Hardins Groc., Horner’s, Karbe’s, Longstreth’s, Maxwells, O B Market, Schreibrel’s, Well’s, Wilson’s, A & P, Davis, Cottey Corner, Cozy Corner, Krogers, Safeway, Samuel’s, and Sid’s. . 

Not only could you find a local store within easy walking distance of your home almost anywhere in Nevada, you could also get free deliveries from most stores. There were several companies such as the Stanley Man, the Fuller Brush man, and the Jewel T man that made regular deliveries, of a vast array of items, to the home shopper. 

Sheila Merrit one of my high school classmates told me stories about her father Orville, who worked for Jewel T for many years. All of these small stores and delivery services are a thing of the past, and we are stuck with only two big super markets and Wal Mart, right? No, that is wrong. Things like these stores come and go, but the more they change the more they stay the same. I’m not crazy, you just don’t realize that we still have the little mom and pop stores. Today they are called “Convenience Stores.” In the current Nevada Phone Book, there are 10 “Convenience Stores” listed. That’s right TEN! First on the list are 3 Cash & Dash’s. The list also includes, Fastrip, The Truck Stop (Nevada Fuel Mart), “Gas Stations” on S. Barrett Ave., Quality Convenience Store, Ricketts Southside Plaza, Tim’s Convenience Store, and the Tobacco Shack. 

It really was surprising when I realized that there were so many of these small stores operating here in town. I might add, that they all seem to be thriving in much the same way as the old corner mom and pop places of my youth. The question begs to be asked, why are they doing so well, when they have to compete with the super markets and Wal Mart. They appear to succeed because they are first and foremost convenient. You can quickly get gas, soda pop, several grocery products, lottery tickets, tobacco, alcohol, and a long list of items. While prices tend to be higher than those in the super markets or at Wal Mart, customers seem oblivious to this lack of savings. It appears that convenience of location and speed are more important. In talking to several people they told me they have patronized practically all of these stores, but generally have a favorite.

 So to all including me, who worried that the big bad Wal Mart and other big chain stores were going to kill off our little local businesses, fear not. Just like when I was a kid and we saved our meager collection of coins so we could buy baseball cards and maybe even a coke at Cox’s, so too we see that the youngsters of today use our convenience stores as their “hangouts.” It really does my heart a lot of good to know, that while there appears to be many disturbing changes, the reality is that there is a lot less change than one would suspect. There is one alteration for today’s shopper. If you went in one of these stores now and said “charge it,” they would point to the debit card machine!!"