Before Wal Mart and its supercenters, there were corner stores. A typical corner store was locally owned, small, sparsely stocked with kitchen and other household essentials, sometimes selling gasoline, and was located near or in the middle of a neighborhood.

In my hometown, we had Puckett’s Store and Withem’s Store.

Both were located on Highway 32, with the former on the edge of town and the latter closer to the center.

My family traded primarily with Mr. Withem. Hindsight, that choice had a ...