The Nacogdoches Grocery Company was founded in May of 1902 by a group of successful Nacogdoches businessmen including John Schmidt, E. A. Blount, B. S. Wettermark, B. F. Hardeman, Oscar Mathews, and S. T. King. A large two-story brick building was erected in Nacogdoches on the Houston, East and West Texas, and Sabine railroad tracks. The company, which had a branch office located in Timpson, was a wholesale supplier to grocery and general merchandise stores. In 1934 such articles as common drugs, small hardware, lime and cement, grain, ammunition, school supplies and fruit jars were stocked in addition to staples and groceries. The trade territory of the company covered eleven counties in East Texas. Most of the shipping of goods was done by railway, but a large portion of the deliveries were made by a fleet of trucks maintained by the company.