Thursday, January 3, 2013

The W-B Food Mart



But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1 John 3:17

            There is this little grocery store on Molalla Avenue in Oregon City called the W-B Food Mart. It is (or was – I’ve heard that it is now owned by worldly people – not sure if that’s true) owned by the White family (descendants of Walter White) and the Baker family. There was a small apartment that was rented out cheap to down-on-their-luck Followers above the store. A one-bedroom unit that was often occupied by some aging bachelor. The parking lot of the W-B was a source of church gossip.
We were expected to buy our groceries from the W-B because it was owned by Followers and only employed Followers. The prices and selection were not great and it was not always fun to have some guy from church commenting on what you were purchasing as he rang you up. But the store extended credit to all Follower families, so if we didn’t have enough money to buy groceries, we could put it on our tab.
            There were several other big grocery stores in town, but it was shameful to be seen going into one of those stores. Dad finally told Mom she didn’t have to shop there any more after one too many disparaging remarks made by a W-B employee. We started driving up to Clackamas to buy our groceries at WinCo every other week and the food was so much cheaper, the store larger, the shopping anonymous. 

13 comments:

  1. The store is actually on Mollala Ave. lol :)

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    1. You're right...I'll fix that one. Thanks :)

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    2. It is spelled "Molalla", so don't change it Suzi.

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  2. About what year do you think you are talking about and i don't understand the disparaging remarks. Had you already quit going to the church?

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    1. We were still going to the church when we stopped shopping there - early 1990s.

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  3. It is still owned by walter's family. Two of his grandsons own it now, previously it was owned by Walters two sons.

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  4. Molalla is the correct spelling, Suzi.

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  5. Suzi please tell of your preachers "calling".

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  6. I grew up right down the street from WB Market and I often walked to the store to purchase treats or pick something up for my mom. I remember being very happy when they put in the fountain soda machine!

    My parents often shopped there, even though we were not Followers. I remember thinking that the men who worked there looked "old fashioned". I think I was reacting to their haircuts, which reminded me of Elvis Pressley. The men in the store were always kind and helpful. They even gave me a box to bury my cat in when he was hit by a car. It wasn't until much later (maybe highschool) that I figured out the store was associated with the Followers church.

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  7. They are very nice people, and have great prices on meat. I don't believe it's a surprise to someone who knows the FOC to find them to be kind. The kindness stops when you disagree fundamentally.

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  8. I heard they had the store for sale because they were having money problems. Some Oriental people bought it.

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  9. where are you now Suzi? Tied up somewhere in the church basement?

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