I remember my mother and several other ladies who worked at Ben Franklin Variety Store for Flauzy and Iris Guest. I may get some of them mixed up as to when and for whom they worked. Some of the ladies were my mother, Bertha McClanahan, Oleta Hundley, Ethel Worthen, and Gertie Webster. Flauzy and Iris had the store in the 60�s. My parents, Marcus and Bertha McClanahan, bought it in November of 1968 and owned it till 1974. When they asked if I would work through that first Christmas rush, I agreed to. Then they asked about inventory through January 15th. So I did that, too. I believe Patti Carrick Rippetoe also worked through inventory. Other ladies that I remember are Marvelle Wright, Velma Cary, Peggy Jones, & Dorothy White. I am sure I missed someone, and I do not remember about part-time employees.
Mother did most of the ordering of merchandise, but I also remember there were some items Ben Franklin would just send to them at the company�s discretion (and of course, bill them). Some of those things did not sell well in Hollis, and created some problems in the store.
When my son, Kelly started to school, he would walk to the store to wait till I got off at 4:30. The accompanying picture shows Kelly, about 10 years old, and my nephew, Shawn McClanahan, about 6. Behind them is the very best part of the store, the candy counter. Of course, old buildings had no central heat and air, so they could not stock chocolate candy in those glass counters that faced the glass front and sun in the summer months. Hard candies and other kinds were there all year round.
Back then there were no surveillance cameras; the only line of defense against shoplifters were vigilant clerks. That was the one thing I really disliked about working there. One day I had a customer desiring to purchase a pair of gloves for a Christmas present, but I couldn�t find them. Daddy told me where to look, but they were not there. He impatiently came to show me, but they really were not there. He had put out a dozen pair of very nice leather gloves that morning, but they had all "walked out" by afternoon!
We sold a little of most things that Wal-Mart sells a ton of. There was not a huge variety of choices, but the clerks always knew what size your father wore or what color your mother liked and if she had already bought one last week. They wanted to see pictures of the new baby and were always sympathetic about the loss of a loved one in your family because they really cared. Try to buy that in a Target! That was how it was in our home town.
