Stewart’s Food Store Celebrates 50 Years As Olney’s Grocer

Stewart’s Food Store had its beginning in 1975 when Harold and Faye Stewart bought Oak Street Grocery from Luther and Vearl Johnson.This small neighborhood store, built around 1930, was located at the intersection of Oak and Avenue F. Harold formerly worked for Mrs. Baird’s Bread for the previous nineteen years delivering bread to grocery stores, restaurants, and schools in Olney and the surrounding communities making many friends throughout the area.

Faye was employed at First National Bank of Olney. Harold and Faye’s two sons, Robert and Danny, joined their parents in working at the store. Luther and Vearl Johnson stayed on to help Harold and Faye learn the grocery and meat market business. Clester and Doyle Evans, former owners and operators of Evans Grocery in Olney, eventually worked for Harold in the market after they retired from their store. Eddie Gaw, long time employee at the Day and Night Grocery and Thriftee Food Stores, in Olney also came to work at Oak Street. The experience and knowledge that these men contributed helped the business succeed, prosper and outgrow the small building on Oak Street.

In 1979 Harold and Faye bought the Thriftee Food Store, owned by Walt and Terry Williams, at 501 W Main Street in Olney.

This new location was much larger, had more parking spaces and provided opportunities for the business to continue to grow. Faye resigned from her job at the bank to work full- time at the store and the number of store employees increased to handle the larger location and growing business.

Efrain “Penny” Molina came to Stewart’s in 1980 as produce manager and continues to serve Olney in that position. Bud and Winnie Bivins and Anne Garvey, formerly of the Piggly Wiggly in Olney, joined the Stewart staff at the new location.

Stewart’s prospered and weathered the ups and downs of the economy as well as competition from out-of-town stores that moved in. In 1996, once again needing a bigger store and more parking, Stewart’s moved to its current location at 1204 W. Main St.

David and Homer Molina helped manage the store at its new location. The Stewart family expanded when Robert married Julie Harris in 1981. Their two children, Shannon and Will, were born in 1984 and 1988. Shannon and Will both worked at the store from a young age into adulthood. Shannon married Jason Pack in 2008, and they have a son Westin.

Jason is now Stewart’s store and market manager. Will married Hannah Bockhoff in 2008 and they have three daughters, Ava, Caroline, and Mae. Will teaches science at Olney High School and his wife, Hannah, is employed by Healing Hands home health care.

Harold Stewart passed away in 2010. Faye continued to work and helped keep the store running until she was prohibited for health reasons. She passed away in 2024. Robert and Danny continue as the current owners of Stewart’s Food Store.

There have been many changes over the last 50 years in the grocery business, especially in technology. From the old mechanical NCR cash register at Oak Street and handwritten, mail in ordering from suppliers and manual ink stampers for pricing, to today’s internet, high tech computers and scanners for ordering, checkout and bookkeeping. Over the years Stewart’s has employed scores of local community members, many of whom got their first job experience working at Stewart’s after school.

Robert and Danny and all the Stewart family are proud to call Olney their home and feel truly blessed and thankful to be able to mark this historic 50-year anniversary. The Stewarts deeply and sincerely appreciate the support of this fine community, our customers, and our faithful hardworking employees.

Stewart’s Food Store is proud to be Olney’s home owned and operated Hometown Supermarket and looks forward in gratitude to continuing to serve Olney as we celebrate this 50th anniversary.