Photo by Michele Newbanks Tayler Petty, 21, of Marietta, prices bandanas Tuesday morning at the Workingman’s Store in Marietta.

Family owned since the start, the Workingman’s Store will turn 100 years old on Thursday.

Dave Schramm, who has co-owned the store with his brother, John, and sister, Susan Satterfield, since 1982, recently found a document that listed Sept. 9, 1921, as the store’s opening day.

“It came up on us all of the sudden,” Schramm said of the anniversary.

He said the store started in Montgomery, W.Va., and moved to 107 Greene St., Marietta, on May 21, 1926.

The store remained on Greene Street until a fire in 1977 at the building next door, which heavily damaged the store. Workingman’s Store was then relocated to its current spot at 113 Putnam St.

They’ve had other stores in Parkersburg, Vienna and St. Marys, but their Putnam Street store is the only brick-and-mortar location now.

Workingman’s Store was started by Fred P. Bay and Will Koester and the two owned it until the 1940s, when Koester sold his portion of the business to the Bay family.

In 1975, Joan Bay Schramm bought the business from her parents, Graydon and Thelma Bay, and Joan’s children inherited it when she passed away suddenly in 1982.

Schramm said when he got out of the service, he didn’t intend to work at the store, but they asked him to stay “and here I am, all these years later.”

John worked at the store for many years, Schramm said, but Susan’s career took her on another path.

Schramm said it’s the employees who make the business successful. There are sales through the store’s website, but customers can’t get the same level of service.

“A lot of people are committed to shopping locally and they want to spend their money locally,” Schramm said.

He said the store has also adapted to meet customer needs over the years.

“It was a general store and we now specialize in work clothing, uniforms, police uniforms, safety footwear and oil field clothing…flame retardant is what we call it,” he said. “We also have our loyal customer base. You get a lot of good customers over 100 years.”

He said the store has a lot of history, including shoe file cards from the 1940s and 1950s.

“Let’s say your grandfather bought a pair of shoes, he would be in the file … that he would have paid $6.95,” Schramm said. “We’ve had lots of history, but the business is only as good as the people who have worked here over the years.”

The Workingman’s Store is known for its selection of high-visibility clothes, scrubs and flame retardant clothing from brands such as Carhartt, Dickies, Justin, Red Kap, Rockport, Timberland Pro, Wrangler and Viking.

Michele Newbanks can be reached at mnewbanks@mariettatimes.com.

If you go

¯ Who: Workingman’s Store 100th anniversary.

¯ Where: 113 Putnam St., Marietta.

¯ Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday.

¯ Call: 740-373-5648.

Source: Workingman’s Store.