Jerry's Store, the heartbeat of Fayetteville Texas. (original) (raw)
JERRY'S STORE
The Heartbeat of Fayetteville
by John Troesser
Jerry and Shirley Chovanec
TE photo, May 2010
Fayetteville, Texas, population 281 (or 263, depending on which way you enter the town) nearly lost Jerry�s Store in 2001 when it was sold to someone with the mistaken notion that this Fayetteville institution could be run like a Houston convenience store.
At the time of the sale, the most frequently-asked question on the Fayetteville square was: �What would Jerry and Shirley do with themselves?� The answer wasn�t long in coming. On their first day of �freedom� the couple visited the local nursing home to visit former customers.
The new owner�s approach just didn�t work. It wasn�t long before Jerry and Shirley were back, greeting their customers in their genuine style and carrying purchases to the customer�s cars. All was right with the world.
Jerry's General Store
TE photo, May 2010
After replacing missing infrastructure and taking inventory, the couple suffered through the painstaking process of submitting new applications to their suppliers � suppliers who had known them for years.
Jerry and Shirley married in August of 1965 and after a four-day honeymoon in Columbus, Nebraska where Shirley showed off her new Texas husband, they started to work as �apprentice grocers� under the tutelage of Jerry�s father Ed Chovanac.
Ed was selling the business to his son and daughter-in-law, but not before the couple was taught the ropes (as well as the hardware, groceries, plumbing supplies, ad infinitum). After their total immersion program in the care and feeding of a small town, the papers were signed in 1966 and the legend began.
Ed Chovanec in his store c. 1955
Courtesy Jerry and Shirley Chovanec
Today things are back on track and visitors to Fayetteville can once again marvel at what one Texas author called �a monument to over-stocking.� Don�t expect to find antique merchandize on the shelves. Jerry and Shirley�s recreational time is attending trade shows where they shop for the necessities of rural living � as well as occasional fun items � like pastel butterfly nets (good for rescuing wayward hummingbirds that find their way indoors).
The replacement antique nail bin.
A missing swivel nail bin was announced at an auction in Corpus Christi and the couple made the 300 mile round trip to provide the winning bid. Fayettevillains can once again experience the sensory pleasure of grasping fistfuls of nails and buying them by the pound.
Fayetteville is, of course, rat free - but Jerry stocks them for the benefit of neighboring communities. TE photo, May 2010
After school lets out, the store might get some help from the couple�s grandchildren who are usually in charge of sidewalk decoration or taking inventory of the store�s ice cream freezer. It�s reassuring to know that at least (a few members of) one more generation will someday have memories of roaming wooden-floored aisles smelling of soap, leather and bananas. (Insecticide and fertilizer too, if you venture deep enough inside the hardware side of the store.)
Over the years, regulations, permits and licensing have curtailed some of the store�s services. No longer can one buy cold cuts and the couple no longer handles local eggs for resale in Houston. However, local produce is bought from growers and sold to customers � a long-standing Texas tradition that has all but disappeared elseware.
Homegrown Squash
TE photo, May 2010
Old fashioned prudence lives on at Jerry�s. Matches are kept behind the counter and ammunition is on the tallest shelf in the store. Practicality? They have that too. While city stores might force you to buy food coloring in sets of five colors, at Jerry�s you can get enough red coloring to lure squadrons of hummingbirds to your feeders.
(And personally signed by John Adams, himself.)
TE photo, May 2010
Don�t think you�re on your own if you need some hardware and Jerry happens to be gone. Shirley or daughter Denise are just as knowledgeable as Jerry since the whole family takes inventory.
Like the old saying goes; ��If you can�t find it at Jerry�s � you�re better off without it.�
Community bulletin board and seedling vegetables.
TE photo, May 2010
Free boxes
TE photo, May 2010
Need a nail? Take a nail. The penny drawer demonstrates that you're not in any conveniance store. TE photo, May 2010
Jerry in motion. Rare bird species are easier to photograph.
TE photo, May 2010
Fayetteville Lions Club recognizes Jerry & Shirley Chovanec
TE photo, May 2010
Jerry�s Store is the mercantile jewel in Fayetteville�s tiara (the town is too small for a crown) and when Texas Highways magazine featured the town some years ago, Jerry and Shirley were the opening photo. That�s a tradition we�re proud to continue. May 28, 2010
� John Troesser
Former Houstonian who was �blessed-in� to the village by Shirley
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Jerry's Store when it was Chovanec General Store � Hester + Hardaway |
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