December 1, 1999
Store provides old-fashion service
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Walking into the Old Mission General Store is like taking a trip back in time - with a modern twist.
Old-fashioned self-serve candy jars sit on a long, wooden counter, backed by glass-fronted cases. Nearby, a portable phone and a credit card machine perch next to a state-of-the-art cash register. The modern coolers sport 10-ounce bottles of Orange Crush and 8-ounce bottles of Coke alongside the latest SoBe elixirs. A wooden checkers board draws players who can munch on gourmet corn chips within spitting distance of, well, a spittoon.
"This is the place where you can get everything from a spinning wheel to a lightening rod to hand-dipped candles," said Richards, a professional actor for 30 years with family ties to Old Mission.
"We have old-fashioned candy, like wax lips and licorice pipes, red union suits with the drop drawers and just about anything you could want. We want to be a combination of old and new that keeps the flavor of Old Mission alive."
Richards and his wife, Marcie, bought the store earlier this year and opened up over Memorial Day weekend. They redefined its mission from a tourist stop with ice cream to that of an old-fashioned general store that would serve as a community gathering place. Plus ice cream, of course, although the T-shirt display has expanded to include flannel nightgowns and Amish aprons. Practical antiques are also sprinkled around the store, with cherry pitters, meat grinders and washboards for sale.
Did anybody mention groceries? The Old Mission General Store now has them, saving nearby residents a trip to town for a forgotten gallon milk. With a flourish, Richards will direct shoppers to "Aisle Seven," a six-foot long span of the basics. He also stocks cheese, milk and eggs along with diapers, sunscreen and a smattering of other household necessities.
And the residents appreciate the return of a local store within walking distance and next to their post office.
"I am in here pretty much every day," said Richard VanderMey, a resident of Old Mission. "It is nice to be able to pick up items without having to run 10-15 miles to town."
Richards used connections from his acting days to furbish the store with props from the movies and television. A large, wooden merchandise table is from "The Witness," a 22-foot long display counter formerly held groceries in the General Store on "The Little House on the Prairie" and glass cabinets behind the display counter are from "The Sting."
The music piped into the store will also bring back memories for many, with Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey wailing the big band sounds. Other times the Richards puts on radio shows such as "Our Miss Brooks," the "Jack Benny Show" or "Fibber McGee and Molly." He and his wife will also designate a day as Hat Day, donning some of their stunning chapeaus for the duration and encouraging shoppers to try on a topper.
"To me this store is a great big set and concession stand," said Richards, who lives on a farm nearby his father bought in the early 1960s. "People come in and tell me stories; they just sit around the pot-bellied stove and just start talking."
The couple plans to keep the store open full-time through Christmas and then play it by ear for the rest of the winter. They are already planning how to expand on their theme and next summer the porch will sport an old Coca-Cola ice machine, with purchases on the honor system, of course.
"This was not like opening a regular store, this was retail with a potential flare," said Marcie Richards, who still works in Chicago as a legal secretary and commutes north on weekends to help with the store. "When people come in here, they get surprised, happily surprised. It's a fun place to go."
Part-time Old Mission residents Doug and Christine Harjer of Grand Haven have discovered the fun, falling in love with the general store near their second home. They look forward to cross-country skiing to it in the winter for a game of checkers or an ice cream cone.
"We love this little store, it is our shopping store," said Christine Harjer. "On one of our girl weekends, we came up here and played checkers and had apple cider with Jim. Every time we come here we bring someone new along to share it."
General store has unique history
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Jim Watson has become a sleuth since purchasing the Old Mission General Store earlier this year. He is always on the lookout for a good story about the place and, from many conversations with descendants of the town's founding families, has put together a rough sketch of the store's history.
Old Mission was the first white settlement in the Grand Traverse area, beginning its life as a mission founded by the Reverend Peter Dougherty in 1839. Soon after the community's founding, Miller Louis started the Old Mission General Store on a section of the Old Mission Beach he purchased from area Indian tribes.
Starting out in a wigwam, Louis soon began constructing a store building by hand, creating what is reputed to be the first retail general store between Fort Wayne, Ind., and Mackinaw. By 1850, the store was also the site of the first post office in northern Michigan, which offered the only mail service available between southern Michigan and Mackinaw.
Stories show that Louis was friends with a sea captain who would traverse the East Bay in just one day and bring his store goods from the wagon train that stopped in Elk Rapids on its way up to Mackinaw. This saved Louis the six-day walk, one way, from his store to Elk Rapids to purchase stock.
Old Mission Peninsula and the town of Old Mission in particular were important to the region from the start. The area was noticed by some botanists and soil conservationists -who later accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition- as a perfect fruit growing climate. They called it the best location for growing cherries they had ever seen.
The Old Mission General Store served as the retail hub of the growing community, as the region's first cherry farms were planted in Old Mission. Potatoes and apples were planted first, as dried apples were highly in demand in Chicago by settlers on wagon trains to the West. The long pier on Old Mission Beach stretched out to the drop off so large sailing ships could be loaded with the produce grown here and sent to Chicago.
By the Civil War, the store building was moved from the beach to its current location at the top of a hill. The center portion of the building today is the original store built by founder Louis. The proprietors usually lived in an apartment above the store, although today the Richards live on his family farm nearby.
At some point, Louis sold the Old Mission General Store to a man named Stone, thought to be his sea captain friend. Stone sold to Henry Lardie, whose descendants owned and ran the store for more than 100 years. Henry sold it to George, who sold it to Bob Duvall, a relative of the family. Two more owners came along in the modern era, Don Smith, a retired Air Force officer, and Dave and Joan Kroupa, who sold the property to the Richards.
Richards continues to search out names, dates and anecdotes about this historic building, fascinated by the ambience in the old boards. He feels a respect for and responsibility to the history of the store and its previous owners, even choosing to stock pickled bologna in honor of George Lardie and Pinconning cheeses in honor of Henry Lardie.
"I think some of the first owners walk across the floor at night, turning lights on and off, banging doors and turning off water when I leave it on," Richards said. "I'm sure they can work the original cash register, which I can't get to work."