Since September of 1985, for thirty-five years, the Lazy JC Hardware store in Melstone has been in continuous ownership by the Coles family. This September is the End of an Era. The small-town store has been sold, and the new owner will be changing the name to The Melstone Mercantile.
When Ben and Anne Coles bought the antique hardware store in 1985, the young couple already had six children ages 13 to 3, in tow. They pulled into the yard the last day of that September, and took over the store the first day of October. Anne remembers the snow on the yard the night they arrived in Melstone. They had been living in Molt Montana, they had been looking for a year for a new place and it was the last stop before school began. Going into winter, they wanted to be settled somewhere. The opportunity landed them in Melstone.
The hardware store is the oldest continuously operating retail business in Melstone. It began in 1912 when the town was just gaining steam. There was a boom and surge in small towns across Montana with the Milwaukee Railroad, and Melstone was no exception. The small-town decline would follow in the years after with the Great Depression, and the eventual removal of the railway. Still, the old hardware store remained, a pillar to the community that would continue to serve the needs of a dwindling population.
When Ben and Anne took over the store, it had not seen a hardware truck in over a month, and was severely lacking in supplies. They worked diligently and sacrificed to build up the store and have everything that you could possibly need from a larger town. The long business hours of 6 am to 630 pm Monday through Saturday, have been faithfully kept. They now carry groceries, plumbing, clothing, fishing, hunting licenses and shells, overshoes, hot water heaters, fencing, building supplies, diapers, gifts and cards, heaters, mowers, office supplies, small appliances, key cutting, made to order paint, glass cutting, screen repair, and so much more that you can't even think of. The store is still heated with a wood furnace, and they haul every drop of drinking water, though they do carry Big Spring for their customers.
Anne lost her husband Ben ten years after moving to Melstone. She has kept on running the store faithfully for the last twenty-five years with the help of family and hired help. Her Daughter Wendy has helped her keep the store going for the last ten years. They have been known for opening up to customers after hours, on holidays, and even during thier own days of mourning after Ben's death.
To this day, Anne has offered a credit to the community customers. A customer will grab a bag of feed and holler to Anne, "Put this on my account" and walk right out the front door with it. It was common in small towns to offer credit, but with so many people abusing it and not paying their bill, most stores quit this option long ago. To be fair, Anne has taken the brunt of these unpaid bills many, many times. She has faced the same problems most large town stores face with pick pocketing, and outright theft. Sadly, the store has been robbed a few times, taking thousands of her hard-earned money. Anne has never pursued prosecution but just chose to keep serving the community.
A fond story Anne's daughter Penny tells is "The Day the Ice Cream Saved the Store." With six children, they were pinching pennies and for dessert they would have ice cream. They would only eat half of a half gallon for all eight of them, and to keep the kids out of the rest they would return it to the store freezer, so that it wouldn't be in the house after school when the kids came home. So they all enjoyed their tiny bite of ice cream and Anne took the rest over to the store only to discover that a fire had started out of the wood stove ash that was in a bucket. She threw water on it and ran to the house to get help. By the time they had got back it had melted a pair of rubber boots which kept it from burning through the floor. They managed to get the fire out.
Wives often came to the store to get the parts for their husbands. One-time Anne had a customer come in to ask for a "pipe with string". Having worked in the business long enough Anne puzzled through the request to figure out that her husband needed a threaded pipe.
I recall one time that a customer came in to return a used light bulb. I stood a-gawk not thinking that Anne would accept such a return, but she allowed the customer to pick a replacement bulb. I still laugh remembering the disbelief that someone would try to return such an item, and we teased Anne that next she would be allowing the return of ice....well, that happened too. Not long after, someone returned a just purchased bag of ice in exchange for a block of ice. You think you've seen it all...no. Once Anne had a customer, we will only refer to as the "buggy bachelor" who was having a bug infestation. He had come in several times for Raid, bug traps, etc. Each time he came he was increasingly agitated. Finally, he called the store to put some Raid on his account and set it out in the doorway as the bugs had gotten so bad that he didn't want them to follow him into the store. Another funny store-y was a customer who came for the brightest white paint she had, because he was having a hard time seeing his outhouse in the dark.
Anne has loved her community, and is so proud of Melstone. It is with heavy heart that she leaves her home and only career behind for retirement. She has been the town "banker", "creditor", notary, friend, confidant, mother, and pillar in her home, store, and community. Hopefully Anne will enjoy a long retirement with lots of time with her many family members and many friends of faith.
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