Mt. Vernon's General Stores
The apartment building next to the present J & W Bar has seen many changes over the years. The Koch brothers, August and Herbert, originally built a store there, replacing one that had burnt down in 1912. The Koch's store was a general store and one could buy nearly everything there, from groceries, clothes and shoes, to farm supplies. The Koch brothers owned the store until 1943 when Ilow Peterson bought the store and stock. Peterson never ran this store but did liquidate the stock.
Andy Nelson, who had been running another general store where Sparky's Tavern now sits, bought the Koch store from Peterson. During the war years the rationing of goods hindered storekeepers from keeping satisfied customers. Andy got around the chocolate rationing by giving distributors more than one name or address when buying candy and cookies. Also during the war years, a barber would travel to Mt. Vernon one night a week to cut hair in the store. Benny Goebler worked for many years at Nelson's general store. Benny remembers the old pulley elevator which was in the back of the store. Its purpose was to make it easier to raise and lower stocks and supplies to and from the storage area above the store. Benny remembered that during pickling season vinegar would come in 55 gallon wooden barrels. In 1944, he stocked four barrels of vinegar to keep the farm wives in brine. Ludifisk would also arrive in barrels packed in ice. Two bachelor farmers, Selmer and Norris Colby, who farmed on top of the Mill Hill, were especially fond of the pungent fish. They were always notified of the new shipments, and would race down the Mill Hill in their pick up trucks to pick out the best white fish. Benny recalled one shipment from which Selmer picked out a "fifteen pounder" that was chipped from the ice. Selmer said, "It looks as if it will make a good meal, and that's no lye."
Andy Nelson owned and managed Nelson's store until 1947, when he sold it to Bayard Wallace and Melvin Westby. Wallace and Westby also had a business of rain gutter installations which they ran out of the store. Their wives, Bernice Westby and Glenn Wallace, managed the store for one year and in 1948 it was sold to Sam and Betty Bieri. In 1950, Ray Davis would purchased the business. He added a soda fountain and made other improvements to the store. The soda fountain became a meeting place for Mt. Vernon youths. Ben Goebler who worked at the store recalled that the soda fountain was Ray's idea, he thought that kids needed a place to spend their time as well as money. Benny said that "the store made the best malted milks in the area, with real milk, real ice-cream, and real malt!"
Andy Nelson purchased the Mt. Vernon cheese factory on the corner of Highways 92 and G and remodeled it into a store. He operated the store until he sold it to Benny and Darlene Goebler in 1952. Benny had worked for most of the other store owners in town, and knew the ins and outs of the business. He and Darlene spent many long hours in the store as it was open from eight in the morning until nine at night. Throughout their six years of ownership Ben and Darlene made many good friends and had many satisfied customers. When asked what one could find in the general store, Ben replied, "Anything you needed, we had penny candy and ice cream for the kids, bread, milk, and canned goods, cleaning supplies, an over the counter pharmacy, clothes, farm goods, shoes and much more, all sold with a smile." Benny sold the business to Amos Austin in 1958. Amos had farmed for most of his life and wanted to be on the other side of the market. He invested in a new awning as well as other improvements to the store. He rented out the top floor of the building to the Goeblers. Amos would be the last store owner in this location. In 1960 the store closed and the building would find a new use as apartments. When asked why Mt. Vernon's general stores went out, Benny replied, "In the end we couldn't compete with Madison. Local residents drove into the city to work and shop and the general store could not compete with the big city prices. Also it was becoming difficult to get wholesale distributors to deliver to the small county stores."