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2010 Persons Of The Year: Lawrence And Doris Cooper

NorthEscambia.com is naming Persons of the Year for 2010 each day this week. Click here for previous recipients.

Lawrence and Doris Cooper have been named two of our North Escambia Persons of the Year.

The Coopers operated Cooper’s Grocery in Bratt for well over 50 years. They announced in October that they were closing the store; however, the store was later sold and remains open under a new name.

Reprinted below is our October story in which the Coopers announced the store’s closure.

A long chapter in the lives of many North Escambia residents is closing soon — Cooper’s Grocery at the Bratt Crossroads will soon be no more.

“I don’t know for sure when we will close it, but it won’t be long. Probably by the end of October,” Doris Cooper, 77, said Tuesday. She and her husband Lawrence Cooper, 84, have owned the country store at the heart of the Bratt community for 54 years.

Besides church, Cooper’s is, without a doubt, the center of the Bratt community. Mornings are a hustle and bustle of activity at “Coop’s”, with moms and children buying those last minute snacks for the school day at Bratt Elementary. Northview High students grab sugary snacks and caffeine to fuel their day.

The wooden front door creaks and moans as it opens and rings the bell to signal another customer. Wooden shelves are stocked with most everything imaginable. Cokes are sold in various sizes of plastic bottles like any other store. But there’s the sound of pure American nostalgia each time the top is popped on a glass bottle of Coca-Cola using the bottle opener located at the front counter. Glass bottles of Coke have been sold at Cooper’s since it first opened at the end of World War II.

The Coopers have offered credit to members of the community for decades. Customers were, and are still, able to add their purchase to their “ticket” for later payment. No credit checks needed, basically just residency in the community.

Some of the charge tickets are old and yellowed, waiting for decades payment. Tuesday morning, Mr. Lawrence located one from 1957. “3 doz. eggs $1.65. Gas $1.55. Groceries $21.35.” They know they will never be paid for the purchases 53 years ago. The gentleman that made the charges is long since deceased.

“But sometimes they will come back in here and make a payment,” Mr. Lawrence said. “I had a guy come in here and make a payment on an old one that I could not find right away. It wasn’t much, but he knew how much it was down to the penny that he owed.”

“I hope and pray that we’ve helped a lot of people,” Mrs. Doris said. “Sometimes that just what it is about.”

Anyone that has grown up around Bratt will happily tell you their memories about the candy counter. Well-stocked with all-time favorite candies, its the stuff dreams — and memories — are made of for little ones.

“Momma would give me 15 cents. We may have been poor, but I was spoiled with my 15 cents in here,” Donnie Bass, longtime Cooper’s Store customer said. “I would get a big candy bar, they were much bigger back then; a Coke and a honey bun.”

Bass, 64, has never really stopped going to Coopers. These days, it’s not uncommon to find Bass at the end of the counter, sharing his lighthearted outlook on most any subject that’s fit for discussion.

Known as the defacto mayor of Bratt, Bass and his buddies gather most mornings at the store to discuss the latest “news” of the day. They talk about the world’s problems, America’s problems and the local problems. And they always have a solution in mind.

“The world’s problems have been solved right here in this store,” Bass said, as he contemplated where he and his buddies will meet after the store’s closure. “I hate it when traditions are broken, don’t you? We might meet at my house, but I don’t know if that’s going to fly.”

It’s no secret that the solutions proposed by the men of Cooper’s Store have not solved America’s problems — the problems that have led to the demise of the store.

“It’s the economy really,” Mrs. Doris said as to why the store will close by the end of the month. And she said the couple hopes to do a little traveling. Then she started naming the trips taken through the years, all funded by the their little country store.

“We were blessed,” she said. “We able to do a lot with our children. We were probably one of the first families from Bratt to be able to go to Disney World.” Then there was the trip to California during which Mrs. Doris refused to get out of the car in Nevada because of legalized gambling.

“It was a Sunday and I wasn’t going to set foot on the ground in that state,” she said.  As his wife continued to recount found memories of road trips with their children, Mr. Lawrence interrupted.

“We went to Wawbeek one day,” he said, bringing a chuckle from those around the counter. Even at 84, his humor is quick-witted.

Cooper’s Store adapted over the years to changing times. They once stocked a full line of groceries including fresh meats, hardware, clothes, shoes and animal feed. The store sold gasoline until just recently, and they also added a pizza/deli counter. “We would sell so much back then,” he said, from suppliers like J.U. Blacksher, Flomaton Wholesale and Lewis Bear.

The meat and cheese scale is still at the front counter — mostly used to weigh babies, she said.

Mrs. Doris’ own children are no strangers to the store, with all having worked behind the counter at one time or another.

“It’s been our family for all these years,” she said. “I’m going to miss seeing all the people in the  community. They are like our family.”

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.