Stanton’s celebrates 100 years of service
In celebration of its 100th anniversary, Stanton’s Shopping Center, a Do it Best member-owner, hosted a community event on Saturday, May 14, featuring live music, food, giveaways, and savings opportunities for shoppers.
“It has been our family’s privilege to serve this community for the past 100 years,” said owner Paul Stanton. “It was wonderful to see our extended family and our faithful customers mingling and celebrating Stanton’s amazing heritage together.”
The event was held in conjunction with a Stanton family reunion, which drew more than 200 members of the Stanton family. Festivities kicked off at 11 a.m. with a bluegrass band performing live in the Stanton’s parking lot.
At noon, a recognition ceremony called attention to the people who have made Stanton’s Shopping Center a shopping destination over the past hundred years. The Chamber of Commerce was in attendance, as well as Mayor Paul Horn. At 7 p.m., a dance was held at Scopel Square.
Throughout the 100th anniversary celebration, said the company, select shoppers received giveaways from vendors including Channellock and Rust-Oleum, and a tool kit from Milwaukee was raffled off. Sausage rolls and catered fare rounded out the day’s offerings.
As part of the celebration, Stanton Meats also “turned back the clock on inflation” by offering their 30-pound freezer value meat package for $60 for a limited time.
The family business was established in 1922 by E. J. Stanton and his son, George, who together sold coal and wood. George Stanton soon added a 2,000 square foot expansion to stock animal feed for local farmers.
Over the next few years, the building and services expanded time after time, growing to include grocery sales, then hardware. George Stanton was called the “Merchant Prince of Brazoria County” and admired for his “six big stores in one.”
George Stanton was also praised for having one of the finest Hereford cattle herds in Texas, said the firm; he won the prestigious title of “Grand Champion Carload of Steers” at The Houston Fat Stock Show twice, in 1934 and 1947.
Keeping the tradition alive, George’s son Warren worked on the family ranch from 1945–1956, showing cattle and winning many championships around the country before joining his father in running the store. The family featured cuts from their own herd in the grocery store, a tradition that has continued through the generations.
In 2006, the Stanton’s added a small USDA-approved meat plant to the operation, which includes a smokehouse for bacon and sausage.
Today, Stanton’s Shopping Center consists of three branches run by three brothers: Neal, who started in 1985, operates the feed store; Paul, who started in 1986, manages the hardware store; and Allen, who started in 1983, oversees the grocery store and meat market.
The next generation of the Stanton family has expressed interest in continuing the legacy of the family-owned and -operated business, said the company.
“I think my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father would all be proud of where we are now, but we know it wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Alvin community,” said Paul Stanton.
“We’re grateful for their loyalty over the years and we look forward to another hundred years of service.”