HISTORY
(Click on all images to enlarge)

Larry Wallace, 2nd from right in his first store. Check stands he built himself. The Feed Store was adjacent to grocery store. Fern Copenhagen was cashier, Boyd Hickenbottom, helper.

Larry Wallace purchased his first store in 1949. Primarily a feed store to serve the mostly agricultural town of Alton, Missouri, Larry added groceries and bought local farmers’ eggs and cream. “We couldn’t sell milk because at first we didn’t have a cooler, but in time, we started selling it out of the bottom of the meat case,” Larry recalls.

Even though Larry bought his first store in 1949, his grocery roots go back even further to when his father, Newman Wallace, had a store in the Royal Oak Community of Oregon County. Larry spent part of his youth helping in the store that served the area farming community.

After marrying in 1951, Larry brought his wife Mildred into the business. Mildred's father, G.R. Owens, owned and operated restaurants and markets in the Alton area as well. “Back then, we wrote down the orders and got them for the customers. I waited on customers, weighed dried beans and other bulk items,” Mildred remembers.

Larry & Mildred Wallace Approx. 1954. Ready for a blow out sale.

In 1954, the store was expanded with groceries taking over the emphasis. This marked a historic time for the Wallace family. The expanded store had two custom designed check stands, ten grocery carts and refrigerated cases. Shortly after that, in 1955, Mildred’s brother, Kelly Owens, joined the business and Wallace & Owens began. Kelly started the company’s second store in Salem, Arkansas, then moved on to open stores in Thayer, Missouri, then West Plains, Missouri, and retired in March 2000, after 12 years at the Kennett, Missouri location. Kelly has been an integral part of the growth of the company, having been involved in every store opening for the past 45 years. Kelly passed away December 16, 2001. Another brother, Richard Owens, moved from Oregon in 1973 to open and manage another location in Corning, Arkansas. He also has retired after thirteen years at the Jonesboro, Arkansas location.

The Alton store remained in its original location for 58 years until 1984 when a new store was built. The original building still stands and now is the home of a sheltered workshop.

The Wallace’s admit that owning and operating a store almost single-handedly was hard work and that there were some tough times to contend with. “The store was open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., then I would work on paperwork until 10:30 at night,” Larry remembers. Larry was active in the day to day operation of the business until his passing September 22, 2006 at the age of 80.

Both of Larry’s sons have been active in the business as well. Each worked weekends and summers during high school as baggers and stockers. Richard transferred to help open the Malden, Missouri store after graduation from high school and has since returned to Alton, Missouri to manage the store there. Steve returned to the Alton and Thayer stores after college and then moved to manage the Malden, Missouri store.

In 1985, the Malden store was redesigned as a “warehouse” format and re-named “Country Mart”. Other stores currently operating as “Country Mart” are Dexter, Doniphan, Thayer and Kennett, Missouri. Conventional supermarkets are operated in Alton, Missouri, Corning and Jonesboro, Arkansas.