A LESSON IN HISTORY (of the Corner Shoppe)

Lanny and I started the "Corner Shoppe" in November 2009, as we had a vacant store building (downstairs) on main street, Garnavillo.
In 1939, my great-grandfather, Alvin J. Kregel, purchased the old(original) hardware store along with Charlie Roggman. Later, they built what became the "new" hardware store which is currently the home of the Garnavillo Auction.In 1969 my father, Dale E. Wahls purchased the 2 hardware buildings and was in business until he passed away in 1999.

One day in the year 2000, Lanny came home and asked me if I wanted to buy the "old hardware store". My first comment was, "absolutely not". The building had not been used for anything but storage for over 20 years, and it was in a state of major disrepair. However, after a few days and a reminder that it had been in the family for 60+ years, I said okay. I knew Lanny had a vision for something, I just didn't know what, or when it would be.

The first week end we "opened for business" we had no idea what to expect. A few people came in to see what was happening, and it made us happy to have a few interested customers.

Lanny's comment was we didn't have enough "stuff" in the shoppe, and I admit it was rather bare. However, we are growing and adding new things weekly, a lot in response to what our customers want.