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Miller and Sons Supermarket was started by J.B Donkle (A great uncle of Burr Weiland) in 1902. At that time, it was a general store and post office.
In the spring of 1911, Adrian Richardson and his son-in-law, F.A. Stewart, bought out J.B. Donkle. F. A. Stewart had been principal of the Verona Grade School and a railroad mail clerk. Richardson later sold his interest to his son, Ray Richardson. At that time, the business was called Richardson and Stewart.
In 1912, the store was enlarged to give the post office (1898-1915) and dry goods more room.
In 1915, Alva Richardson, the younger sister of Ray and Edna, married William Miller. In 1916, Miller purchased Ray Richardson’s interest in the business. William Miller had worked at the Bank of Verona before going into the store business. The store then became known as Stewart & Miller, until 1950.
William Miller ran the Meat Department and radio/appliance repair. Frank Stewart managed grocery, clothing and footwear. Edna Stewart and Alva Miller managed dry goods, clothing and gifts.
The store sold a wide range of merchandise, including; dry goods, gifts, dishes, all-season footwear, work clothes, groceries, flour, chicken feed, drugs, meat, Christmas trees, gasoline, oil, two grades of kerosene, Red Wing dishes, jugs, crocks, Harley Davidson Motorcycles (For a number of years) tires, chains and bicycle parts. Poultry, eggs and embroidery work were sometimes exchanged for merchandise.
In those days, coming to town was a big outing for the farm families. Wednesday and Saturday nights were busy until midnight. The store had benches out front and a large floor-register furnace. These became gathering places for a large number of individuals.
In 1950, Frank Stewart had a stroke and sold his share of the business to Keith Miller, the son of William Miller.A new store was built behind the old store and the business was now known as Miller & Son. Gradually, the business changed from a general store to a supermarket.
In 1958, the business became Miller & Sons (Adrian, Greg and Carl). In 1976 the building once again expanded.
In 1992 Carl and his wife Barb Miller expanded the building to fill the entire 200 block of S. Main Street. The houses facing Schuman St. were demolished to make room for this expansion. A liquor store was added in November 2004. The employee parking lot across the street was purchased in 2005 and expanded in 2011.
There are two retail shops at the end of Miller & Sons. The Verona Pharmacy owned and operated by the Bongey family since 1958 burned down in its original location on Verona Rd. in 1997. They then moved into the current location at the end of the store in 1998. Not long after Carl’s brother Greg opened his sports card shop in 2000; Greg’s Card Locker.
In 2009 Millers bought Kalscheur’s in Mt. Horeb, and recently opened this brand new facility. The new store is located down the street from the current store’s location on Business Hwy 18-151 east. Currently, the 5th generation of the Miller family are also involved in the store. This includes Carl’s nephew Bill Miller who works alongside his wife Amy at the Mt. Horeb location and Andrea, Carl’s daughter at the Verona location.