Special offer

Here is a good example of why going to the grocery store now is SO painful. Person Store Searcy AR.

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage

Do you ever feel a lot of pain at the grocery store?  Especially if you take kids with you.  There are so many things to choose from!  Sooo many selections in every category. 

And the prices for groceries have gone sky high.....so it seems.  Hubby and I have to report that we are home from the grocery store with with one small bag and we are out $26.  Folks on limited incomes must be in terrible pain as they walk through the aisles of the store and have to choose how far their grocery budget will go.

This picture from old Searcy AR shows a grocery store a long time ago.  It is labeled Person Store at Spruce Center and gives the name of E. L. Person and Homer Clay.  Selections are limited.....not a lot to choose from.  Therefore, less pain!

Person Store Spruce Center Searcy AR

How about "Girl" baking powder?  See that Wonder Bread?  And Cokes are there for sure.  You would not have to shop for very long here but the friendly guys might take up some visiting time.

Comments (28)

Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Harold Gene, it says Spruce - Center so I assume it was at the corner of those two streets.  My hubby says it was along there where the police station is now.  I agree it was probably not a grocery store but they had some displayed, didn't they.

Anita, I sent an email to Sherry.  Leon would know.

Don, you are very thrifty.  I personally like the Kroger store and I like their brands which are sold cheaper.  I also like my little discount card which lives on my keychain.

Jan 16, 2013 09:12 AM
Anonymous
Harold Gene Sullivan

I thought of Person Feed Store but I couldn't see any feed sacks in the picture so thought it must be a different store.  But there could be feed sacks in the back where one cannot really see.  But the names Anita came up with sure fit.  A thought, maybe there was the feed store next door to this general store.  I'm sure Anita or Barbara will clear it up with their contacts.

Jan 16, 2013 01:20 PM
#10
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Harold Gene, we are working on it.  I still haven't heard from Leon Person, who should know all about the store or stores.

Jan 16, 2013 08:37 PM
Anonymous
Mary Dunn

I believe Ernest Person was Billy Person's father.  Billy was in my class but he had an older brother named Robert, I think.  Billy is/was a plumber and I think at some time the family had a plumbing supply store.

Jan 16, 2013 11:27 PM
#12
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

I remember when $25 used to fill up a grocery cart, the kind you push around the store. That grocery store looks like the little grocery store I used to go to when I was a kid, to pick up a pack of Lucky Strikes for my mom (I had to carry a note with me) and stick my head into the pop cooler to find an Orange Crush or RC cola.

Jan 17, 2013 03:03 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

When Bob and I moved back to Jonesboro, Ark. after graduate school, and we had a son:  my grocery budget was $30/week.  I remember going over and crying as I went back to the car.  I remember saying to myself:  One day I'm going to be able to go in a grocery store and buy anything I want without having to look at the price.

Elizabeth:  that RC or Orange Crush was probably just 5 cents, right?

Jan 17, 2013 07:50 AM
#14
Anonymous
Leon Person

The Person Store was in the middle of the block on Spruce St across from Moye Mercantile.  It was a long tin  building.  The original owner was Paul Person.  He sold groceries and hardware.  Ernest Lee Person bought the store from Paul and Homer Clay (pictured) worked for him.  Yes Ernest Lee had 2 boys, Robert and Billy (they live in Searcy)  and daughters Frances and Janet. The store eventually was just a hardware store. 

Paul Person owned Otasco at 219 W. Arch.  His son is Leo Person who now operates Coast to Coast Store on East Race St. with his two sons.

Leon Person

Jan 17, 2013 08:10 AM
#15
Anonymous
Leon Person

OOPS ! To clarify.....  The store was bought from Paul Person.  Ernest Lee Person and Homer Clay are the 2 guys in the picture.

Jan 17, 2013 08:13 AM
#16
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Mary, Leon Person has cleared it all up for us.  Sleuths have solved another mystery!

Elizabeth, my mother used to send me to the store to buy her some snuff.  Ever hear of that stuff?  She didn't smoke cigarettes but dipped snuff.  She'd always say, "If anyone asks you who sent you to get it, just say the old washer woman wants it."  As if that fooled anyone in a tiny town!!

Anita, I understand.  I used to clip coupons and search for bargains with them.  One day I said to myself, "I am not going to clip coupons anymore.  I am not even going to look through all these ads for coupons!"  I am still tempted but am trying to hold steady.  Once poor, you always feel poor....at least in my case.

Leon Person, thank you SOOO much!!  I knew you could clear it all up.

Jan 17, 2013 09:00 AM
Steve Hoffacker
Steve Hoffacker LLC - West Palm Beach, FL
Certified Aging In Place Specialist-Instructor

Barbara,

So much to be said for the small shopkeeper stores - grocery, drugs, hardware, clothing. :)

Steve

Jan 17, 2013 09:07 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Steve, those were good old days where everyone knew everyone else.

Jan 17, 2013 09:14 AM
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

If ya'll didn't get enough grocery store stuff go to this blog from 2008.

Barbara, you need to rethink the coupon usage strategy.  The wealthy are notorious coupon users and the thinking is once rich the way to stay rich is to use every method to save money at one's disposal.

There was a time grocery stores took coupons even if you didn't buy the product on the coupon. The largest amount I remember getting from coupons was $20. So long as I had bought enough, the coupons were accepted carte blanche. That was a Safeway store in California.

Jan 17, 2013 11:16 PM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

Thanks for the older blog, Don.  I love Paula's pictures and can still smell the coffee beans being ground in Safeway.

I couldn't do without my coupons, but I only use the ones for the products I would be buying anyway.  I wish WalMart would double coupons, like HARP'S does, Barbara. (ahem)    You could save big bucks.  Go back to your coupons.

Jan 18, 2013 02:34 AM
#21
Steve Hoffacker
Steve Hoffacker LLC - West Palm Beach, FL
Certified Aging In Place Specialist-Instructor

Barbara,

Congratulations. Your post is featured in the group "Americana." :)

Steve

Jan 18, 2013 03:07 AM
Steve Hoffacker
Steve Hoffacker LLC - West Palm Beach, FL
Certified Aging In Place Specialist-Instructor

Barbara,

There is so much to be said for that personal touch and interaction. :)

Steve

Jan 18, 2013 03:08 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, that was a good blog that you called to our attention.  I did love Paula's pictures.  Those stores that took coupons without selling the products surely committed fraud!  I was never able to find one that did that.  I admit that I feel guilty because I quit coupon searching and feel as if I am throwing money away.

Paula, I agree that you only need to use the coupon if you are buying the product anyway.  Some of the brand names are more expensive even with a coupon than the cheaper brands without.  Walmart does honor the other stores's sale items, doesn't it?  I guess if I gave up this blog and concentrated on coupons I could save some money. 

Steve, thanks for the feature!!

Jan 18, 2013 04:22 AM
Anonymous
Deanna Brooks

I'm pretty sure there was a big beautiful (Victorian) house where the police station is now...several old homes in that area came down in the 1960s.

Jan 18, 2013 08:32 AM
#25
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Deanna, I was around when at least one of them came down.  It was where the apartments are now.  It is sad to see the old big houses come down.

Jan 18, 2013 08:36 AM
Kristin Hamilton CA REALTOR
Berkshire Hathaway California Realty - Beaumont, CA
(909) 557-6966- Specialize 55+ Communties Banning

Hi Barbara,

I love all the older black and white photos and this store is fantastic. I recognize the brands and it was a much simpler life. I remember going to the grocery store in the early 50's with my mother and growing up with the regular brands but now there are so many new items and I am still prone to buy the brands I am familiar with. Thanks for sharing and your photo brings such good memories of shopping with my mother and going to the Home Improvement store with my dad (it was a small H I store not like the huge one now.)

Jan 27, 2013 01:54 PM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Kristin, thanks for the very nice comment.  I, too, am just overwhelmed by the choices in the grocery stores today.  I am tempted by all the easy-to-prepare frozen dishes but when I buy one to try, I always end up disappointed.  I remember the first TV dinners and how awful they were.  My taste buds are too developed, I guess.

Jan 27, 2013 08:50 PM