SMALL GROCERIES STAPLE OF SMALL-TOWN ECONOMICS

When William R. Nelson sold 25- and 50-pound sacks of flour, he was selling much more than a winter's worth of bread and cakes.

He was also selling a sensible house dress, several aprons or a dozen practical dish towels.

The days when women used flour and feed sacks for clothes and household goods are long gone, but Nelson's Grocery at Millersville is still selling flour and much more.

When Neal Reagan's father, C. V. Reagan, stood behind the counter at Reagan's Grocery in Ullin, Ill., it wasn't unusual for customers to stock up on canned goods, potatoes and maybe a new horse collar for "ole Dobbin."

The Butcher Block at Tamms is in a new building, but it still provides the food staples of its predecessor, the Tamms Grocery, including a "made-to-order" baloney sandwich for lunch.

The Reagan and Nelson markets, the Butcher Block and numerous other small grocery operations are a staple of small-town economics -- friendly places where neighbors come to stock their cupboards

"We don't sell as much as we have in the past," said Nelson, who will observe his 50th anniversary of ownership of the Millersville store next year. "We had a big business going at the store during the 1950s and 1960s."

At the store's peak, Nelson said he sold tons of flour and potatoes, feed grain, and even hatched chickens.

Nelson remembers an old flour mill that operated behind his grocery.

"We purchased and sold flour from that mill," he said.

Although business has slowed for Nelson, he likes his store.

"People come by and visit," he said. "We discuss the news of the day."

The abundance of modern transportation and supermarkets, he said, has had its toll.

"We used to employ six people here," he said. "Now, I have one employee."

Nelson served as postmaster for Millersville about 30 years, until 1980, operating the post office out of his grocery store.

The post office remained in the store a few more years before a new post office was built.

Nelson, who served in the U.S. military during World War II, moved back to Millersville after the war, where he worked at the grocery a while before purchasing it in 1945.

Few changes have taken place at the old store.

"We still use an old cash register," he said. "We tried a computerized cash register, but it went haywire. This old one does everything that we need."

Reagan's Grocery, now Reagan's Super Market, opened at Ullin in 1933 during the depression years.

"When my dad opened the store, he sold a little bit of everything," Reagan said. "He sold horse collars, dry goods, hardware and groceries."

Reagan said that over the years the store has settled down to about 90 percent groceries.

"We have a few nuts and bolts, but mostly it's groceries," he said.

Also missing from the Reagan Store is the old pot-bellied stove that provided warmth during the winter months.

A lot has changed in the operation of the store, he said.

"We miss the wholesale salesmen who used to call in person for orders," he said. "Now, we order our groceries by telephone and computers."

Grocery ordering is different, too.

"We used to order potatoes, flour and dried beans in 50- to 100-pound sacks," Reagan said.

"I like the grocery business," Neal Reagan said. "I've been in it all my life and I've made a lot of friends."

Reagan hopes the third-generation business will pass on to the fourth generation.

Four Reagans are involved in the operation of the 62-year-old store, Neal Reagan and his three sons, Lee, Randy and Jimmy.

"A lot of people from this area go to Cape Girardeau, Carbondale and Anna," he said. "But, we still have a good trade. It's a good business to be in."

Neal Reagan and his brother, Ray Reagan, operated the store following the death of their father. Ray Reagan retired in 1964, and Neal Reagan purchased his brother's share.

Phillip Hodges of Cairo, Ill., is owner of the Butcher Block at Tamms. Hodges, who is also president of Fill-Up Mart, which has nine service station-convenience stores, three in Cape Girardeau, purchased the Butcher Block at Tamms about 10 years ago.

The Butcher Block building was destroyed by fire in February but reopened in a new structure at the same site 13 weeks later.

"We do a good business at the Butcher Shop," Hodges said. "We have a full line of groceries and bakery items."

The Butcher Shop, which also provides sandwiches and coffee, serving burgers and other sandwiches, may expand into plate lunches, but "our primary business is selling groceries."