An old-fashioned approach

Some of Walter White's favorite memories of growing up in Hayti, Mo., are of going to an old country store where he would buy handfuls of penny candy, sip on soda pop and eat as many baloney and cheese sandwiches as he could afford.

"You could buy anything at the old country store," said White, now 46 and a resident of Cape Girardeau. "People would buy groceries there, everything. It was the old-fashioned way of doing business. They even gave people credit. You sure don't see that now."

Those old country stores have been basically wiped out by the proliferation of the modern convenience store. White wants to bring them back to Cape Girardeau with his new grocery store that he plans to open at 1007 S. Sprigg on Oct. 31.

The name? What else? Ole Country Store.

It's the building that for years served as Ratliff's Grocery store and, until recently, had been a grocery store of some kind for 75 years.

"It's a need here," White said last week. "There's no grocery store in this area. People have to walk a long way to find anything."

Shelves line both sides of the modest store, with two rows of shelves down the middle. He already has shelves stocked with items like cereal, laundry detergent, cold medicine, soda and cologne. He also plans to sell meat and make sandwiches. Yes, he's also going to serve penny candy. And more incredibly, he's also going to give "certain people" credit to buy things and pay later.

His explanation? "That's the way they used to do it," he said.

Some images of the past are placed around the store, from a Radio Flyer wagon to an old tin milk can. Even the sign on the front of the building is in hand-written paint.

"It's been my dream," White said.

There is some excitement already building up in the neighborhood.

"I'm so glad it's reopening," said Gary Sparks, who lives right next door to the store. "It's more convenient and close. I used to buy sodas here every day. It's going to be good for the neighborhood."

Cape Girardeau City Councilman Charlie Herbst said he was glad to see a business in that part of town. The store will be within his ward.

"Ratliff's store was a foundation of that neighborhood for a long time," said Herbst, a former Cape Girardeau police officer. "As a police officer, I used to go in there and have baloney sandwiches. I think it's great that he wants to put an investment there."

White said he expects the store to be more profitable once the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is finished and sends traffic near his store.

White initially wanted to open a country store after reading an article in "Black Enterprise" magazine five years ago. The article was about a black man who wanted to start a store, but every bank initially turned him down.

"But he never gave up, and now he owns three stores," said White, who added he easily got a loan in Cape Girardeau.

Shortly after he read the article he bought the building and opened a grocery store there for a few months, but personal problems caused him to close it shortly after. Now, those problems are behind him, and he's ready to make a more permanent go of it.

He picked a building with a history of being a successful grocery store with his brand of doing business.

For decades, the building was home to Ratliff's Grocery, which served as an institution in south Cape Girardeau. Ratliff's was first opened in Smelterville in 1950 by Juanita Ratliff and her late husband, Carl. It relocated to 1007 S. Sprigg in 1973 after being flooded by the Mississippi River twice in one month.

A store has operated at the 1007 S. Sprigg for more than 75 years, under various names -- The Ravenstein Grocery, Hawn Grocery, Vincent's Grocery, Henson's Grocery, Schaaf Grocer and Ratliff's Store. The Ratliffs obtained the building from the Schaafs. Juanita Ratliff died in 1999.

"I want to put Ole Country Stores across the country," he said. He knows it's a big chore. "But I have my dream, and I have faith in God that I can make it happen."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137