Fond memories of Grady's Food Market

I recently saw a copy of one of the old printed shopping lists provided by Grady’s Food Market in Portales, the grocery store of my childhood.

It’s funny how a small piece of paper can bring back so many memories.

Grady’s got its start on the square, I’ve been told, as Grady’s Red and White Grocery. At some point before I was old enough to remember — or maybe even before I was born — it moved to 217 S. Ave. C in Portales, on the site now occupied by Aaron’s.

Grady and Ethel Beard were the owners. Henry Gentry started working there after World War II, and later bought the business. He and his wife, Barbara, were fixtures in the store.

Those of us who were kids at Grady’s likely remember two things: They kept a few miniature shopping carts on hand to be pushed by junior helpers, and they had a rack of comic books that sat in the front window surrounded by stools designed to encourage us to sit and read.

Those comic books were unquestionably the most used and least-frequently purchased items in that store. They were, theoretically, for sale, but browsers were never chased off. I expect that both the Beards and the Gentrys knew that dog-eared comic books were a cheap form of distraction, and they were as happy as their youngest shoppers were with the arrangement.

We always had a pad of Grady’s shopping lists hanging on the side of our refrigerator, attached with a magnetic memo clip that also nestled a pencil.

Grady’s list had 98 alphabetized items in three columns, from “apples” and “bacon” to “wax paper” and “yeast.” Several blank lines at the bottom of the third column were available for customization.

Looking at the old list reminded me of how much our grocery shopping (and diet, to be honest) has changed over the years.

We kept a lot of canned goods in our house back in the 1960s. Electricity was less reliable then, and our mom was a less than enthusiastic chef, so she was happy to open a few cans to feed us.

A supper we all loved (no, really) was a tall can of chicken with a couple of cans of different vegetables stirred in, topped with canned biscuits, and baked until browned.

Biscuits were packaged 10 to a can and there were five in our family. Everyone got their two biscuits, along with plenty of chicken and veggies (and probably enough sodium to last a lifetime, but nutrition had yet to be invented).

Grady’s also helped us keep a reliable supply of Vienna sausages, canned potted meat, tins of bean dip, and saltine crackers in the pantry. That was our standard emergency meal for when the electricity was out. My brothers and I considered it quite the treat. (See above paragraph about sodium.)

Grady Beard was born in 1900 and lived until 1983. I wonder what he would think about modern supermarkets and the vast and mind-boggling array of choices offered for even the most basic items today.

Would he find a way to stay in business with a simple store, one where his shoppers could count on an alphabetized shopping list, a warm welcome, and a selection of comic books meant to be cherished?

My vote is yes.

Betty Williamson would still shop at Grady’s if she could. Reach her at:

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