Stinson retiring from grocery business
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 23, 2007
A friendly face that everyone knows when walking into Super Foods/Food Depot in Luverne is about to officially say goodbye after almost 53 years of working in the grocery business.
Hilton Stinson, the co-manager of Super Foods/Food Depot in Luverne, will retire this Saturday, June 23.
Stinson, who has lived in Butler County most of his life, has been working in Luverne since Oct. 14, 2002.
“I graduated from Greenville High School in 1954,” he said. “On Sept. 7 of that same year, I started working at the A & P in Greenville.”
And the rest is history.
Stinson has also worked at the Piggly Wiggly and the Super Foods in Greenville.
He was hired by the late Mr. John E. “Jimmy” Wilson to work at Super Foods/Food Depot in Luverne in 2002.
Mr. Jimmy Wilson and his wife, Mrs. Alyce M. Wilson, were the founding owners of the business. Their son, John M. Wilson, is the present owner.
“I was going to retire Aug. 1, 2006,” Stinson said, smiling, “but I stretched that to December.”
Stinson ended up staying until June.
“I have definitely enjoyed being over here,” he said. “I've had many customers tell me, ‘You can't leave!'”
He smiles and says that he can't say enough about the Wilsons.
“I wish Mr. Jimmy were here,” he said. “I feel like I've completed my mission here - this store will continue to grow - I'm just stepping aside.”
Mary King, the front end manager and head cashier at the grocery store, said if there were “a few more people just like Mr. Stinson in the world, it would be a much better place.”
“He's a good, Christian man,” King said. “I am really going to miss his good attitude and the sweet spirit he has toward people, the people we work with and the people we work for.”
King said that Stinson enjoys it when she brings him a plate of her homemade cooking for supper.
“I treat him like he's one of my family members,” she said.
And just what will he do with all of that time off?
“Oh, I'll just take retirement day by day,” Stinson said. “My wife Bettie and I like to go to the mountainsŠjust have a little quiet time. Plus, I'll be able to put more time into my church activities.”
“I know my wife will find plenty for me to do,” he said, laughing.