IN Sewickley Area Spring 2014 | Page 31

“Like many independent businesses, we can supply more of the specialty products our customers want, where with the larger retail stores, those products would turn over too slowly.” Records kept by Murray, and later donated to the Historical Society, indicate that much of the store’s inventory arrived by train, while larger pallets of goods, such as salt, arrived by steamship to Sewickley Landing. Included in the records were invoices for both horseshoes and tires, highlighting the massive societal shift that was taking place with the advent of the automobile. Records show that in 1943 the store was sold to Charles E. Sickeler, who also was the superintendent of the Singer estate in Edgeworth. In the mid-1900s, the feed-andgrain business transitioned into a hardware store and then into its current model as a home and garden store in the 1960s. Kenneth Robinson began working at the store in the 1960s and purchased it from Sickeler in 1989. “We’ve been told that in the early1900s, they used to keep horses in what is now our back room,” says Richard, 50, who started working at the store when he was still in high school. “The store used to be two separate buildings, and the back area was where they kept the horses.” At some point in the 1930s or ‘40s, the two buildings were eventually joined into one large building. The Robinsons have tried to maintain most of the building’s historic charm. “It’s such an old building that the basement is like a dungeon,” Richard says, laughing. “You can see where we patched up the walls, since it used to be heated with potbelly stoves.” They have kept most of the building’s essential structure, except for a few necessary improvements. They have replaced the store’s original light fixtures and windows, and removed an old grain elevator, having heard that a worker had been seriously injured from a fall from it. An original wooden barn sits on the property, reinforced but still intact. The store has managed to survive when others have failed for a number of reasons, explains Richard. The Robinsons have kept their prices competitive and, because of the store’s small size, can provide specialty products that many of the larger retail chains don’t carry. “Like many independent businesses, we can supply more of the specialty products our customers want, where with the larger retail stores, those products would turn over too slowly,” explains Richard. Still, it’s never easy to run a family business. “To stay competitive, we have to work seven days a week, and we average about 75 hours a week,” he adds. It helps that the family actually owns the building, so they are not forced to deal with increasing rent. Their location has also helped since it is convenient for shoppers, and residents don’t have to drive outside of the neighborhood. The business has remained fluid in its adaptation to customer demands. For instance, the demand for wicker furniture and baskets has