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Wauzeka grocery store closing after decades in one family

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Al and Mary Stuckey are retiring from running Stuckey’s Market in Wauzeka for 26 years. Their last day of business will be Friday, June 30. (Photos by Correne Martin)

Al and Mary Stuckey stand in front of the meat case inside the grocery store they’ve run most of their lives. With no buyers prepared to take over, the community’s mom and pop market will close for the unforeseen future and remain for sale.

By Correne Martin

Al and Mary Stuckey have owned Stuckey’s Market in Wauzeka for 26 years. Friday, June 30, at 6 p.m., they will close the store’s doors one last time.

“It’s going to be sad to lock up,” Mary confessed.

Wauzeka’s mom and pop market has been for sale for years and, though there’s been some interest in buying it, nothing ever panned out. The last couple of years, Al and Mary have become more serious about retirement. Yet, the decision to close was not easily made. The Stuckeys feel concern that their regular local customers will need to find another shopping destination, and they said they’re going to greatly miss visiting with everyone.

“It was time,” Al said of the announcement made just after Memorial Day. “I just gotta recharge my batteries. I’ve slowed down over the years and it’s hard to keep up with technology. It’s always changing.”

“But we’ll still see people around the community,” Mary said, noting they plan to remain living in the close-knit river town, population 711.

The last day of business Friday will end an era of Al’s family owning the small-community general and grocery store.

His grandparents, Albert and Nellie Zeeh, started it as Red Bell Market during the early-1900s, in the exact location it sits upon today. Then, his parents, Wilbur and Illene Stuckey, took over and renamed it Stuckey’s Market. In the early years, it was more of a general store, where customers could purchase clothing and shoes as well as food and household goods. It was also a lot smaller—only about a third of the size it is now.

In the 1970s, under his parents, the store switched over to a full grocery line, Al said. In 1984, the business expanded into the southern two-thirds of the current building.

Growing up, Al and his sister spent time helping at the supermarket and, eventually, around the age of 23, he began working there full-time, for about 11 years before purchasing it from his parents.

“I remember one day when a bunch of gypsys came in,” Al recalled of his younger years. He said they weren’t riotous, but remembers everyone being relieved when his dad and some of the customers got them out of the store.
Mary said some of their consitent shoppers have also reminisced about the times when hobos would hop off trains passing through town and head into Stuckey’s begging.

“Those days are long gone,” Al said.

Of course, Al met his sweetheart Mary in school at Wauzeka and, after they married, they bought the business in 1991. They had three children, Adam, Nicole and Kelsey, and Mary worked fill-in hours until they had grown some. All three of their kids worked there, even recently, on occasion.

Al expressed that his most beloved part of running Stuckey’s Market was “working with my parents and my wife.” Though, when asked who was in charge, both Al and Mary had a good laugh.

During their ownership, the couple both enjoyed talking to their clientele and keeping up with their lives, while they also loved seeing travelers come and go over the years. They said their farthest customer came from Germany, while they also met many from down south and, certainly, from all over the tri-states. Otherwise, it was their local residents who supported them for the past two and a half decades. School organizations, sports, local businesses and community events were quite important to the market, just as it was to them.  

“We appreciate the patronage over the years and the friendships we’ve made,” Al remarked.

“When you’re here as long as we were, you watch a lot of places and people come and go,” Mary added. “It’s fun getting to know them, but a lot of people work out of town. There just isn’t as much in our little town anymore.”
When this week is done, the Stuckeys plan to keep busy in retirement with their kids and grandkids and also do some traveling.

“I’ll have to catch up with some projects at home, too,” Al noted.

The Stuckeys have finished special orders of meat, in particular, for their customers’ freezers, and they’ve marked down most of their merchandise. What’s left after the last day will likely be donated to the food pantry.

The building and business will continue to be for sale. They said they’re open to leasing or renting.

“It’s going to be different to be home all the time,” Mary said. “But it’s time to do other stuff and enjoy life.”

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