Johnson County Genealogical & Historical Society

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Economy Variety Store of Vienna 

The Economy Variety Store was owned by Vern & Flossie Williams from the 1930's to the 1970's.  The people of Johnson County enjoyed this store and remember it well.  In 2001, Flossie Williams had this to say about the store.

"In our store we catered to the needs of the people who were mostly farmers, and we carried things that were used every day by people.  We had different departments in the store.  We had candy and an old fashioned candy case where we filled the bins each one with a different kind of candy.  We laid it out to the customers so that if children wanted by buy one piece they could, or a sack full, or mixed.  Then at Christmas or holiday seasons, when treating children, sometimes people or organizations would come in and buy a whole lot of pounds of candy.  We ordered our candy directly from the factory in Chicago - Brach's Candy.  We had at least ten separate bins and we kept a different variety in each one."

"We usually had four girls working the store as clerks and waiting on people.  At holiday seasons we hired extra ones so we always had plenty of help.  You didn't have to go in and hunt for what you wanted.  The girls knew where everything was and you could tell one what you were looking for and if it wasn't in their department, they could tell you right where you could go to find it in the store."

The story of the Economy Variety Store was written by Gary Hacker.  For more on this story, see the May edition of the "Johnson County Heritage Journal," a monthly publication of the Johnson County Genealogical & Historical Society.  For more information, write to: JCGHS - PO Box 1207 - Vienna, IL 62995 or see our website: http://johnsoncountyil.net

 

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