Kaiser’s Grocery a downtown landmark for over 90 years

By DENNIS NARTKER
KENDALLVILLE — Kaiser’s Grocery at 120 S. Main St. (now B&P Archery) was one of the busiest stores downtown in the 1920s and 1930s, according to lifetime residents Irene Schenher and Russell Frehse.
John Kaiser opened the grocery store in the 1860s, according to his grandson, Phil Kaiser of Fort Wayne. The original store was built of wood with a boardwalk in front on a cobblestone street.
Merchandise arrived in bulk barrels. The store also sold Haviland and Limoge china, American colored glass, Italian pottery and hand-woven baskets.
John Kaiser’s son, George Kaiser, took over the business from his father. George Kaiser operated the store until he retired in 1945. His son Walter Kaiser then became proprietor.
Walter Kaiser’s son Phil joined the business in 1954 after his return from the Korean conflict.
The store closed in 1956 when Walter, Phil and his son John opened a supermarket in Angola.
The building housed Skinner’s Sewing Center in 1963, then Fischer’s Drug Store, The Mode, a woman’s clothing store, and The Nobleman from 1978 until 1992 when B&P Archery opened.
On Dec. 3, 1937, George Kaiser witnessed the infamous Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. (A&P) grocery store robbery and attempted capture of the suspect.
According to the Dec. 4, 1937, News-Sun, Kaiser told police he thought the fight with the suspect on the street after the robbery was all a joke.
Robert Shaw, a 27-year-old itinerant farm hand, robbed the next-door A&P, grappled with Earl Eulitt, an A&P employee, on the street before shooting him in the stomach and fleeing south on Main Street, and then west on William Street.
Shaw would be wounded by police and captured in LaGrange County the next morning after he shot and killed a LaGrange County deputy sheriff and wounded Noble County Sheriff Ervin Cazier.

Above and at right- Landmark Kaiser's Grocery at 120 South Main Strett, Kendallville