Shopping in Pulaski County Missouri!

Shopping  in Pulaski County Missouri was great fun.  It is an integral part of visiting,  while on a hosted trip I visited several shops.  I love to see what there is in different parts of the country and learn about the history and culture of the area I am in!

H.E. Warren Store 

The H .E. Warren Store is located at Pine & McClurg streets in Richland’s Pulaski County and has been in the Warren family since 1869.  When Keith and I walked in, we saw a huge store filled with clothes, bolts of cloth and shoes.  There was jewelry, denim and more!

Greg Warren was behind the counter.  He shared a bit of his family history with us.  “My grandfather Henry E, known as H.E. was from Tennessee.  He fought for the North (in the Civil War) after he heard a speech by Andrew Johnson in Knoxville before he was picked to be Vice President.  My grandfather was promoted to Captain through what they called Battlefield Promotion.”

“Battlefield Promotion”, Greg explained,  happened  when the soldier in command in front of you died.

H.E. was called “Captain” for the rest of his life.  Ending up in Rolla because that was where the railroad stopped.  “He picked up and moved across the river following the route where they were laying out the town.  Grandpa came here, he figured he’d start a general store and picked this lot.  At first, it was a two-story log cabin.  They lived upstairs.  It was very successful, and they kept adding on. ”

We saw the  brick area in the store where the stove once was. The store was affiliated for years with a Ben Franklin until they went out of business.  They also ran the grocery store for years.  Greg said it is still in business.  However, it is no longer in the family.  H.E. Warren was a grocery, shoe store, department store and Ben Franklin all rolled into one!

The store is a busy place. Greg’s earliest memories are running up and down the aisles!  Many of those early memories remain like the old cash register  behind the counter.   There are also very cool pictures on the wall that visitors can read and enjoy as well.

After we spoke with Greg, we moved on, but then later came back, and Keith bought a belt doing a bit of his own shopping in Pulaski County.  We were amazed that you can buy anything from a suit to Carhartt clothing in the H.E.  Warren Store.  Being a John Deere fan, Keith was quite impressed with the John Deere material.  There was literally something for everyone from giftware to shoe ware at H.E. Warren, but the best thing about the store for me was the history that stands behind it.  I loved the big wooden door front door, the very cool sign outside, and the stories inside!

MFA Agri Services

Loving history as we do, and tractors, we saw that the MFA (Made For Agriculture) store was down the street from H.E. Warren and we stopped in to see if anyone there knew of some local tractor collectors while we were in town.  We were in luck when Wayne Mitschele shared that his father James had a few cool Farmalls.  Later we met up with James for a fun tractor story.  At the MFA store though we saw a fun bunch of guys and enjoyed the busy farm store.  What I loved though was the great sign outside painted on the brick wall.  Later I saw on their Facebook page that a group of kids painted the mural.  Great job!

Reinkemeyer’s Touch of Dutch Country Store

Saturday morning this was one of the first places we went and the store was bustling.  Reinkemeyer’s is a Bulk Foods store that offers fresh local produce as well as organic and gluten free items. They had herbs, spices, fresh meats, and bakery items.  The morning we were there a group of ladies were waiting to take a basket weaving class.  I would have loved to join them.

Several people were in that morning buying fresh produce and there were some amazing fresh peaches that I wanted to take home.  One of the family members though that waited on me told me that the since I had stops and the peaches would be in the car for long periods of time that they wouldn’t last, so sadly I didn’t buy any, but they were so pretty.  This was shopping in Pulaski County I missed!  The store was clean and filled with fresh items that locals were clamoring for.

Lost in the Woods Antiques & Collectibles

Keith and I love antiques and while in Waynesville we visited the wonderful Old Stagecoach Museum, and tried to visit  Talbot House Antiques, but it wasn’t open while we were there.

We moseyed on down to the lovely Lost in the Woods Antiques and Collectibles and found a gathering place filled with neat items and fun folks.  Our favorite finds for the day there was a cool player piano and a neat juke box.  There were lots of cool shopping in Pulaski County opportunities in Waynesville, just not enough time!

These are just a few of the fun places we saw and there were several we just ran out of time to see.  We headed back to Richland for lunch and  some Tri-County Fair fun.  I look forward to more fun shopping in Pulaski County Missouri when I return for Cow Days in September.  Do you have any tips, places I should go?  If so, be sure to comment and share!