Nicely's

Most small towns have one of these:
A small corner store complete with the cash register as soon as you walk in the door.  And, don't forget a crotchety lady working, keeping her eye on all of the kids that barrel through the door.  I'm sure she had to keep a close eye on the kids to keep the merchandise from being stolen.
It was one of those neighborhood kind of places where the kids rode their bikes in search of the perfect piece of candy or gum.  You know the kind: you walk through the glass door and you see the old hardwood floors that are darkened with footsteps of others who have shopped in that same store.  There's an old cash register on the counter, complete with the "ching" when a sale is made.  It's not a big store, in fact, I remember it being a tad bit on the crowded side.
I mostly rode to Nicely's after swimming in the pool, which is just down the street.  There were times when I probably snuck over there when I was out riding my bike, too.  And, I may or may not have looked at the curb of the street for any amount of change that I could convert into candy or gum.  What a treasure it was when I found a nickel or a dime instead of a penny!  You would have thought we found gold!
Nicely's wasn't just a candy store:  it was an actual small grocery store.  I'm not 100% sure if it had a meat counter, but it does seem like there was one in the back.
I'm also not sure when Nicely's went out of business.  It seems like at one point the building was going to be torn down, but someone stepped in and saved the building.  (Too bad no one did that for the Mule Barn!)  The building has been used by the Masons, so it isn't empty.
Every now and then you'll see kids on their bikes with bags in their hands, but they aren't coming from Nicely's...they're coming from a convenient store that is across the street that has gone through several different names.  Just seeing the kids on their bikes brings a smile to my face with the memories of my childhood in the Small Town.

11 comments:

  1. Nice memory, we had such a store in my growing up years too.

    A-Z

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  2. We had a little store called Binkleys we used to ride too, plus a 7-11 for slurpees which was one of our favorite things to do. It's nice to know kids are still out exploring on their bicycles : )

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  3. we had a corner store but it wasn't nearly as quaint. it makes me sad that life is changing so much but I guess that's the way of the world.

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  4. You brought back a lot of warm memories from my childhood for me...thank you! :)

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  5. We have had many of those types of stores in Roanoke and in Alex City. It is sad to see them go.

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  6. We had something similar when I was growing up. Ours wasn't on the corner, it was in the middle of the block. It was called the 5 & 10 or the Dime Store. It had the wooden floors too. I loved going in that place.

    Ours is now an antique mall.

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  7. I grew up in a number of small towns in central Illinois. Really love your blog and your A to Z Challenge theme. Makes me feel right at home!

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  8. Most old downtown areas have a place like Nicely's. Our town had one. It was on a Square. Just about all of those small businesses are Out Of Business now. Tough for the small business owner to stay in business. The mom and pop's are failing. The one I remember had homemade candy. And there was a little restaurant in the back. They also had the old fashioned register that made the Cha Ching noise. Loved that place.

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  9. I can remember a store like that as well, but it's long gone which is a little sad.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Mary Montague Sikes

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  10. I remember "penny candy" too and boy...spending just a nickel made you feel rich, lol! Smile...thank you for sharing the memory!

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  11. I rode my bike everywhere too but we didn't have a small store. We went to the Ice Cream shop and good old McDonald's LOL Nicely's sounds well, Nice,for lack of a better word,(ha,ha)
    Lucy from Lucy's Reality

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