Cheryl Haagenson’s memories of Hassen’s Store sure were on the mark.
I remember primarily the smell of fresh fruit that always met me at the
door. It was nearly the same across the street at K.C. Sine’s Red and
White. It’s funny how the smell of those two stores still hangs on in
the old memory. Sometimes when I happen to be in one of the larger
stores, I get a ‘deja vu’ when I get near the fruit section. I also
remember how mad K.C. got once when I was in the store to buy some
tennis shoes for basketball. He took down a box and opened it and it
contained one tennis shoe and one ‘penny loafer’ dress shoe. He threw
the box on the floor and yelled, “G—D—YOU, MARRRRRRGIE! He scared
the devil out of me, as I was only 9 or 10 years old at the time. She
wasn’t careful putting away shoes that people had tried on and mixed
them up. Then he had to try to figure out where the other shoe was, in
all those boxes! He eventually found it and I got my shoes—white high
top Converse All-Stars! We must have been WAY ahead of our time as now I
see some of the ‘punk rockers’ are wearing them as if they really found
something! You know—-I might have to look in my closet! Thanks Gary!