Price's Pantry - Orchid, Virginia

Country Stores

My aunt and uncle owned a small store in Giles County, Virginia during the 1950s called L&R Grocery. The store sold groceries and Gulf gasoline.  When I visited in the summer, I would spend part of the day in the store with my uncle. He knew all of his customers by name, and they would often talk for a while, my uncle standing behind the counter with his foot propped up on a stool, and the customer leaning against the Coca-Cola vending machine with its sliding doors on top. Many of the customers bought "on account" and my uncle would record their purchases in a book he kept under the cash register. Occasionally a customer would come in to "settle up."

L&R Grocery was a precursor to the modern convenience store, and at the same time a reminder of the nearly extinct general merchandise store. From Colonial days through the 19th century, the general store was the most common retail outlet in the country. As new areas were settled and towns built, the general store would replace itinerant peddlers. The general store offered a wide variety of goods and services and often operated the Post Office, extended credit and provided rudimentary banking services to the community.

In the 20th century, the general store began to be replaced by smaller, more specialized retailers, like L&R Grocery. By 1967, general stores accounted for less than 3% of all retail outlets in the United States. The small "mom and pop" retailers that displaced the general store would, in turn, be replaced by chain retailers and "big box" stores.

For a 10 year old boy, the dim and cool interior of L&R grocery, with free access to soft drinks and candy was a kind of paradise. Sitting behind the counter with my uncle, I watched through the Merita Bread screen door as the cars approached on Route 100, and tried to guess which ones would stop.