Who we are

Carrier Family History:

Brothers Elton (Al) and Arthur (Art) Carrier married sisters, Rose and Martha Reiling. The Reiling sisters sold fruits, vegetables and flowers in a stand across the street of the current building. The couples’ first store was built in the 1920’s and was located in front of the current building. They sold groceries and gasoline pumped through an old style pump, called the visible pump. They also ran a 3.2% beer tavern.

The first half of the larger store (current building) was built in 1939. They continued with groceries, gas (with installment of new standard oil pumps) and the tavern. They also installed a pit on the north side of the building for car repairs. 

The building was on the old US Highway 10 (now Lexington Ave) and people came from St. Paul to work at the Twin City Ordnance Plant which was built in 1941 to make ammunition for WWII (it was renamed Twin City Arsenal in 1946, Twin City Army Ammunition Plan in 1963 and operated until 1993). After work, people would stop at the store on their way home for beer, groceries and gas. 

In the late 1940’s, Roseville started to grow, so they decided to double the size of the building in the early 1950’s. They then converted the tavern to hardware supplies. Many contractors building homes were now able to use the hardware side for their supplies. The car pit and storage remained on the north side, groceries in the center and hardware on the south side. At that time, there was no competition in the area for hardware and few grocery options, so the store was successful. 

Art and Martha’s sons- Richard and Allen, and Al and Rose’s children- Bob, Marlene, Carol, and Mike helped with many tasks at the store over the years. In 1972, the brothers retired and sold the store to Art’s son, Richard, who continued the Hardware Store until the early 1990’s when the building was sold and converted to a bike shop, County Cycles.