Washington City’s Original Variety Store

Tag : Tricot Fabric

Yes, right down that aisle, Shane, answers Nisson.

Its that kind of one-on-one personal service that has kept thisMom and Pop general hardware store at 20 E. Telegraph going strongfor 62 years.

During those years, children have happily browsed the stores candyracks looking for penny candy in the form of Tootsie rolls or forlarge, medium or small jawbreakers.
If you count the years when Calvin and Cenia Hall ran the store asWashington Mercantile, from1918 through 1946 when Quentin andGwendolyn Nisson purchased it, the store has been in business for90 years.

The variety is what the people like about the store, Nisson said.Nisson, who turned 90 years old on Aug. 10, is proud of the storeswide variety of merchandise, especially its gift card selection.

Thats one thing weve got them (Wal-Mart) beat on, is our cardselection, he said.
In addition, customers can find appliances, vacuum cleaner belts,vegetable seed displays, a machine for making keys, childrensgames, hardware including paint supplies and garden tools,automotive, electrical and plumbing supplies, RV parts, nuts, boltsand fasteners.

The big thing we want to emphasize, Nisson said, is fabric.Weve got all kinds. Were just about the only store in the areathat carries the Tricot style of cloth.
People come from Las Vegas and Cedar City, as well as Hurricane andSt. George, to shop the store for its fabric, yarn and sewingnotions.
Its better than some places because we carry a more complete linefor a store that doesnt specialize in it, adds Audean Club, 66,who has worked at the store for three years.

In addition, the store still sells nails, grabber screws andfasteners by the pound, according to store co-manager Bob Nisson,one of Quentin and Gwens five children. The couple has fivechildren, 26 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, many of whomstill live in the area.

In the stores basement, an area that used to be a storage area forgroceries, Bob Nisson points out hardware, nails, fasteners andplumbing supplies.

We do a lot of hands-on helping with people, Bob Nisson said.Its personal service that keeps people coming back.

Quentin Nisson, who still works daily half-day shifts at the store,especially likes mingling with customers and keeping up on whatsgoing on with their lives while helping them find the things theyneed in his store.

Because he was born and raised in Washington City, Quentin Nissonhas strong ties to the community.

He served as mayor of Washington City from 1950 to 1964, and alsoserved as bishop of the Washington LDS Ward for six years from 1956to 1962. During his tenure as mayor and bishop, Quentin Nissonremembers seeing the Veterans Park (previously known as WashingtonCity Park) and the Washington LDS rock chapel built.

He also saw the population of Washington City jump from about 400to between 16,000 and 17,000 residents today.

From 1946 to 1983, the variety store carried groceries, but toaccommodate growth in the area, the Nisson store split into twobusinesses, with the Nisson Foodtown opening across the street at20 W. Telegraph.
Since then, VNS Variety Store has retained its essential characteras a general hardware store, carrying a variety of goods for nearlyeveryone. Although Quentins wife, Gwen, no longer works in thestore other than doing the bookkeeping, the store has continued onwith three full-time and six part-time employees.

One of them, John Bagley, who has worked in the store about twomonths, said it was his daughter, Jessica (a former store employeewho worked for VNS Variety for two to three years), who hired andtrained him.

It was kind of strange to work for your daughter, Bagley said,who noted that he is the first male employee who wasnt part of theNisson family to be hired as a store employee.

Quentin Nisson attributes part of the success of the store to hisemployees.

The dedicated clerks weve had in the past have helped the storesucceed because of their love of helping me succeed in thebusiness, he said.

And Quentin Nisson still gets a kick out of seeing children comeinto the store to buy the penny candy.

A lot of kids will buy the candy, then when they grow up theybring their children in for the children to buy the candy too, hesaid.

While many store offerings have remained the same, the store ownershave also adapted with the times, by bringing in moredollar-oriented kids games and catering to a growing recreationalvehicle clientele, but the store owners also found it profitableand interesting to sell advertising space on the west, outside wallof their store, which faces directly across the street from thebusy Washington Post Office parking lot and is also situateddirectly in front of westbound vehicle traffic on busy TelegraphStreet where the signs can be easily seen.

Quentin Nisson leases the ad space on the store wall on a yearlybasis.
Its better to see a nice sign than a lot of graffiti on thewall, he said.
But some newer technological changes, commonly found at otherbusinesses, will have to wait a little longer to be incorporatedinto the store.

The store has no e-mail address.

We havent got that fancy yet, Quentin Nisson said. sgm