The Owensboro Grocery Stores That Filled Our Childhoods

When I was a kid, and it was Mom's day off, I would be her traveling companion as she ran errands. That often included trips to the grocery store, which I always thought were fun. For one thing, there was at least one store where I could ride UNDER the shopping cart. What a blast.

Winn-Dixie

Since we're flashing back to the grocery stores of our youth, let's start with that one...Winn-Dixie. When I look back, I wonder how she accomplished all the shopping with me taking up so much space below. Those baskets were shallow, as I recall.

But it was convenient; the first Owensboro Winn-Dixie was at the end of the former Lincoln Mall, now Owensboro Christian Church, which was across a cornfield from our house. The second store opened on 25th and Frederica Streets an unknown number of years after the first one closed. The second Winn-Dixie closed not too much longer after sustaining significant damage in the January 2000 tornado.

Today, if you want to do a little Winn-Dixie shopping, you'll have to head south. And I mean SOUTH.

Charlie's Key Market

This one fascinated me as a child because it was tiny, but it was still loaded with everything you'd need from a grocery store. Located on or near the corner of Hill Avenue and Frederica Streets, it was about the size of a convenience store, and its aisles weren't easy to navigate. I'm sure we shopped there from time to time to save money. Mom was a big spendthrift and followed the coupons; she never stuck with just one store.

Wetzel's

But if there was one she visited more often than the others, it was Wetzel's. A local, family-operated chain, Wetzel's stores were located on Carter Road in the Village West Shopping Center, on 25th Street (now IGA), on Triplett Street (I think that was the oldest one), and on South Frederica in Sherwood Plaza. This was the one with the giant grocery bag.

Wyndall's Supermarket

The Wyndall Smith family operated several supermarkets around Owensboro, and searching for those old locations is difficult on Google. So I'll use my brain, a novel approach. There was the really old one on Parrish Avenue where Dollar Tree is now. (When I would stay with my grandfather, that's where we'd go.) There was also a Wyndall's Supermarket in the same strip mall on East 4th Street/144 where Consumer Mall is today. There were others, but I can't remember if they were Wyndall's Supermarkets, Wyndall's IGA stores, or just IGA stores.

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If you're thinking the omission of Kroger is the "elephant in the room" in this discussion, it's because Mom never shopped at Kroger. She always kept it local, for the most part. (There WERE those trips to Winn-Dixie, after all.) I do know this...if my mother was shopping at your store, your prices were in line with her budget. I don't remember it any other way.

Which grocery store do you remember shopping with your parents or grandparents?