It was owned and operated by Percy Mullen and I believe it was his Mom who helped him in the store. She sat in an elevated “room” with a large opening just behind the checkout counter where she could see the entire store. Percy is the only person I can remember ever working in the store.

Percy had no cash register. The store had a pneumatic tube system where he would place the cash in a small metal canister that whisked the money up to his Mom at the main cash desk. She would make the change and shoot it back down to Percy.

Mr. Mullen’s nephews Bernard and Richard operated the big Saranac Lake Supply Company at 55 Broadway where the Community Bank parking lot is today.

Now, of course, I thought that was the extent of the Mullen Grocery Empire. Then I run into my friend Doreen Gorgas at the Rock Shop and we start to chat about the history of their home at 3 Olive St. Doreen and her husband Keith (a great musician) now also operate an Airbnb in the upstairs of their home … and from the pictures Doreen showed me they did a beautiful job remodeling those rooms.

Mullen’s first delivery truck in front of the Mullen store on Bloomingdale Avenue. (Provided photo)

Other former owners of that home were Betsy Bouton Pond and my sister Theresa Riley Gates who operated a day nursery there many years ago … and later, Mr. and Mrs. Nick Santagate and Mr. and Mrs. Russ DeFonce. Russ replaced Nick as town of Brighton town justice when Nick stepped down, probably one of the longest serving justices in the entire state.

Now, as they say in the trade, I am really backing into a story.

Doreen, while searching though the nooks and crannies of that old house, found a bunch of papers about the Mullen family who also at one time owned 3 Olive St.

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Owned and operated six stores

The children of Isabelle and William Mullen. No names listed but I am guessing from knowing Richard and Bernard as adults that to the left is Richard, then Bernard and seated next to Mildred is Bertrand. (Provided photo)

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Among the papers and pictures Ms. Gorgas found was the Enterprise obituary of William R. Mullen who started as a clerk in his father’s grocery store.

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June 24, 1963

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“William R. Mullen, 84, Saranac Lake grocery store operator for more than 65 years, died in Saranac Lake General Hospital Saturday night. He had been a patient one day.

“The funeral will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Saranac Lake Methodist church with the Rev. Dr. Lionel R. Driscoll, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in the Harrietstown cemetery. Friends may call at the Fortune Funeral home.

“He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Isabelle Layhee Mullen, three sons, Bernard and Richard of Saranac Lake, Bertrand and a daughter, Mrs. Mildred Mahan, both of Arlington, Virginia; a sister, Mrs. Anna Akin, Daytona Beach, Florida; a brother Percy of Saranac Lake; six grandchildren and nieces and nephews.

“Mr. Mullen was born in Peru on September 24, 1878, a son of William and Harriet Severance Mullen. His family moved to Saranac Lake in 1888. Mr. Mullen attended local schools, Albany Business College and had been associated with the Town of Harrietstown as a surveyor before entering the grocery business at the turn of the century. He married Miss Isabelle Layhee in 1908.

“During the busy years of Saranac Lake as a health center, Mr. Mullen owned and operated six stores, four in Saranac Lake and two in Lake Placid. He was president of the Saranac Lake Supply Company at the time of his death.

“He was an excellent figure skater and was a member of the first hockey team formed in Saranac Lake. He had served on the Saranac Lake school board for 12 years and was on the board when the Saranac lake High School was built in the 1920’s.

“He was a member of the Saranac Lake Rotary Club and the Masonic order.”