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Bernard Mears had arrived in America in his
mother's arms. He was two years old in 1878. The Mears families were all
hard workers and made a place for themselves in the land of opportunity.
Bernie was smart and wanted to be his own boss.
When he was 25 he took a wife. Bernie had saved some money and decided
on a dry goods and grocery store combined. He and Marie found an empty
building to rent and proceeded to fill it with inventory.
There was an apartment upstairs. They were not
blessed with children, so the two of them worked side by side to become
established and build a trade. Marie had a knack for arranging the
merchandise to appeal to customers, Bernie didn't mind the long hours.
He was happy, life was good. The business thrived until the great
depression hit the entire country. No one had money to purchase pretty
things or even food.
In 1930 Marie had a heart attack and left Bernie
alone. Following Marie's death, which Bernie felt was brought about from
worry about the store, he lost interest in anything. He was keeping odd
hours of opening and closing the store. He had few customers and did not
make them feel welcome. Bernie wandered about the store, dusting a bit
and sweeping the floor. His inventory remained almost the same as
nothing much was sold. After awhile, he stopped sweeping and dusting.
The grocery part still had canned foods but little else. Bernie was
losing weight and not eating much once his fresh meats and cheeses were
depleted. A deep depression set in. He had lost Marie, his true love,
and now his business seemed lost as well. Why did he want to live?
A few houses down the street lived a family who
had also fallen on hard times. They seldom had three square meals a
day. Julie, the youngest girl was fourteen. Julie worried about Mr.
Mears getting so thin. At meal time, she would take a portion of their
meager meal to Bernie. She would stay and talk to him, dusting and
cleaning. After several months Bernie began to improve. He still had no
customers to speak of, but from what he had left in the store, he would
sack a few cans and take to Julie's family. Julie spent time cleaning
the store and talking to Bernie.
In early spring Julie saw her father planting a
garden. This gave her an idea. She suggested to Bernie that he make a
garden in the big space beside the store, which they had once thought
would become a parking lot, and sell the produce really cheap in the
store. It would help the neighbors and also Bernie to have money for
new merchandise. They would plant half the garden space now and half in
three weeks giving them fresh produce for a long time.
Julie prayed hard as they placed the seeds in the
ground. When the seeds sprouted, Julie looked anxiously at the rows and
there were no empty spots. They all came up and produced the best crop
of vegetables Bernie had ever seen. Julie gave another prayer of
thanks. You might say those two had the idea for the first Dollar Store
as they reduced the prices until nothing in the store cost more than a
dollar; many items were a penny or nickel. They soon became well known
in the community for having the best prices and finest produce in town.
They also extended credit to their neighbors and accepted various items
as trade for merchandise.
The two of them worked hard throughout the 1930's
and made a very successful business. Julie earned a salary. As the
economy picked up, so did sales at the store. Bernie was now in his 66th
year. Julie was doing most of the work while Bernie clerked a bit and
kept books. They had hired a man to plant and tend the garden. One
afternoon when Bernie closed his ledger, he smiled at Julie. "We are now
knee deep in black ink, Julie. Our hard work has paid off. Please give
me a dollar bill."
Julie had no idea why he wanted a dollar, but
pulled one from her purse and gave it to him. Bernie smiled. "Julie, you
now own this store. I have given it much thought, and since my parents
have passed and my sister married well, there is no one I want to leave
it to, or who deserves it more. You saved me and the store years ago. As
soon as the paperwork to transfer title to you is complete, I plan on
going out and seeing the rest of this great country."
Julie thanked him, and added that she would always
keep the name of Mears Family Store, and he could come back when he
wanted to. A few days later Bernie packed, loaded his car and left among
many tears and good luck wishes from the neighbors.
Many postcards, letters and phone calls would be
forthcoming over the years. Bernie would meet many interesting people in
his travels, and view wondrous things.
Julie sighed, wiped her hands on the big white
butcher apron she wore and went back to work. She sat down at Bernie’s
big desk and thought to herself, who would ever imagine a Jewish man, a
part Indian girl and a few seeds would have survived the worst this
country could throw at them and come out on top? We truly reap what we
sow.
cbwest@webtv.net |
