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Evie, left, and Ed Olson, owners of Robinson's Feed Co., talk about the history of the store over the last 100 years. Their toy poodle Sparky sits in Ed Olson's lap. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)
Robinson's Feed store celebrates centennial — just like city of Lodi
In the late 1890s, William Robinson moved to Victor, where he had a dairy and harvested grain. Considering that many in the area need grain, Robinson opened a feed store at Pine and Stockton streets, next to the family home.
A century later, the Robinsons still have that feed store — and it has never left the family.
It may not be as old as the Henderson Brothers, a heating and air conditioning family business that's 115 years old, but then the Henderson family hasn't been a part of the business since the first decade of the 20th century.
Not only has Robinson's Feed and Country Western Store, with locations in Lodi, Lockeford and Galt, survived 100 years, it's had five generations working there.
William Robinson represented the first generation, followed by his son, Willard "W.J." Robinson, and Willard's daughter, Evie Olson and her husband Ed. The fourth generation is the Olsons' son, Rex. And Rex Olson's children, Megan, Ryan and Eric Olson, also put in hours at the Lodi store on Victor Road.
"I think we're nuts," Rex Olson said while explaining why the family has remained in the business 100 years.
But then he added, "It's better than work."
Rex Olson runs Robinson' Feed, while his parents still keep their hand in the business. In fact, Ed Olson, a youthful 84, says he works seven days a week while wife Evie owns The Music Box on Lodi Avenue.
"I'm too old to start over, too young to quit," Ed Olson said.
When she was growing up, Evie Olson, 78, said Lodi Avenue was a two-lane street. One of her fondest memories was that the family's tiny fox terrier, named Foxy, used to walk every day from the Robinson home west of where Hutchins Street Square is now and across the railroad tracks all the way to the feed store at Lodi Avenue and Main Street — all by herself. That was in the late 1930s.
"Foxy lived a good life until a Doberman got a hold of her — she thought she was a Doberman," Evie Olson said.
Before Evie Olson was born in 1927, a church convention was held in her family's warehouse behind the feed store because it was the largest indoor meeting place in Lodi.
Ed Olson joined the business in 1946. He grew up in South Dakota and was a deep-sea diver at Pearl Harbor, where he salvaged sunken ships. He was employed by the Navy, but he never enlisted.
Instead, he joined the Air Force during World War II. It was while he was stationed at Stockton Field (now Stockton Metropolitan Airport) that he met Evie Robinson. They married in 1944.
More Robinsons joined the business, as Ed bought the Lodi store from his father-in-law, Willard, and joined Evie's brother, Emory Robinson, and cousin LeRoy Weaver in running the feed store. By the late 1950s, Ed ran the place himself.
Running the business wasn't as difficult in past generations as it is today. The Olsons didn't have to compete with big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Target, and most stores weren't open seven-days-a-week as they are today.
"When we were young, we'd close our store at noon on Saturday and go to the mountain cabin," Evie Olson said. Still, the store remained closed on Sunday.
Evie became politically active and served on the Lodi City Council from 1982 to 1990. She was mayor in 1983-84 and in 1987-88. She was named the Lodi Chamber of Commerce's Outstanding Citizen of the Year in 1995 and won the chamber's Athena Award for woman leaders this year.
Ed Olson was an avid flyer and motorcycle rider in his younger days. He owned some 75 motorcycles during his lifetime, giving away his last one a year ago.
Evie isn't so hot on motorcycles, especially after taking a trip with her husband in the late 1970s. They went from Lodi to the Canadian Rockies and back in 10 days. Evie Olson rode behind her husband and got way too tired.
She used to ride her own motorcycle to her music store, which was located at Lakewood Mall at the time.
But when she was elected to the City Council in 1982, Evie realized it wouldn't be too dignified for a female elected official to ride a motorcycle around town, so she gave it up.
The key to running Robinson's Feed, son Rex said, is to keep the overhead low and keeping it in the family (his wife, Susie, does payroll from her home). That allows them to compete with the Wal-Marts of the world.
Rex Olson, 54, joined the Lodi store full-time after graduating from the University of California, Davis, in 1974. He's recognized for bringing the stores into the computer age and expanding its inventory beyond pet food and other supplies.
The store now has a large supply of western clothing, animal-related games and nick-nacks.
Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.
First published: Monday, November 27, 2006
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Chris Bailey wrote on Dec 20, 2006 7:38 AM:
Thanks for the memories wrote on Nov 27, 2006 10:25 PM:
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