In 1946 Ed and Jessie McClendon and Hub and Juanita Stanley purchased Cecil Fillpot�s grocery store which at that time was located on the north side of main street in Hollis. After purchasing the business Hub and Ed relocated the store to the south side of main street in the building between the First National Bank and Coley�s Hardware. At this time the grocery store was renamed "S & M Grocery".
When the grocery store opened the employees were Duard Fikes, the butcher, John Trammel, Glenna McClendon (Ed�s McClendon�s daughter), Ed and Hub. The store opened at 7:30 in the morning and closing time was unpredictable. It depended upon the customer�s needs. The grocery store would deliver groceries to their customers two times per day, 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. They would take orders from the customers over the phone and yes, they did have charge accounts.
In the fall when the cotton pickers come to pull boles the town was always full on Saturday nights. It was so busy it was hard to find a parking spot. The store�s customers would come in the store and buy their groceries but would leave them in the store until they had finished their Saturday night entertaining. This usually meant the store would have to stay open until after the Saturday evening preview at the movie theater. Sometimes the groceries would not be picked up until after 1:30 a.m.
The grocery store was also a place where many people took their work breaks or would just come in to discuss the town�s happenings. The way the store was set up there was a bench and shelf up front where the cereals were kept. People would push the cereal back and sit and have a coke from the coke machine and visit and watch the town happenings. This was especially busy on Saturdays.
In March, 1948, Ed had a heart attack and passed away. At this time Hub bought the McClendon�s share from Ed�s wife, Jessie McClendon. The store was renamed Hub�s Grocery. Jessie continued working for Hub until he sold the store. Other employees who worked for Hub were John Tucker, Durad Fikes, Lucian (Crook) Williams, Paul Baird, Kelsey Kite, John Trammel, Doyle Carter and many more. Many high school boys worked for Hub and were his delivery boys. One special one was Jerry (Bunk) Castleman who would later become his son-in-law. (He married Judy Stanley) Other high school boys who worked after school were Floyd and Claud Hollingsworth, Monty Moore, Jo Ayers, Norman and Joe Corbitt, Wayne Stewart and many more.
In the summer when the cantaloupes and watermelons were ripe, Hub would take his family to the train station and they would pick out fresh melons to stock in the store. This would usually take several hours. The family remembers smelling each one and sometimes if they were lucky they would even get to taste them. Nothing tasted better than these melons!
Another fond memory of the store was when the flour sacks would come in. During these times flour was packaged in white sacks with beautiful scraps of material at the end of the sacks. The woman would come in and spend several minutes choosing which sack of flour they would purchase according to their favorite piece of material. This material would be used for quilting.
Lucian (Crook) Williams was noted for his excellent homemade chili and homemade tamales. People would call the store every week wanting to know if Crook had made either one of his specialties that week and would place their order for them. As soon as the customers knew they were ready they would sell out quickly. The store usually made several dozens of both of these to sell at the annual Band Carnival which was held every October and was a big town event. Unfortunately Crook never wrote these recipes down, and they have been lost forever. Many a person has mentioned how much they miss them. Crook was also noted for buying people�s warts. No one understood this, but he would buy the warts for a penny and would tell you not to think about them or worry about them anymore and that they would go away, And they always did. Hub�s daughters remember many people selling the warts for a penny to Crook. Ha!
In the early 1970�s Hub was elected County Commissioner, and he sold the grocery store to Mr. Lemon. He only kept it open a few months until he closed it.
