Tabor's

Tabor's to close this month


By Nick Rotunno
Shoshone News Press

January 11, 2009

WALLACE — Since the latter years of the 19th Century, Wallace residents have depended on Tabor’s.

But this month, with the economy reeling and money tight, the old corner store on Cedar Street will be shutting its doors. It will close down by Jan. 29; for the next few weeks shoppers can take advantage of 25 percent off deals on all merchandise.

Tabor’s has always been a resilient place. It survived the great 1910 fire; it burned down in 1931 but was soon back in business. A few decades later, in 1981, Lavigne Drug Group purchased Tabor’s and began guiding its transformation from office stationary supplier to all-around convenience store and pharmacy.

For 30 years the shop remained steadfast, a pillar of the Wallace business district — the one place where a consumer could buy apparel, sporting goods and medicine all in one swoop.

2010 marks the end of a long era.....

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Tabor's is closing!!

Tabor's has been a mainstay in Wallace since before I was born. I remember my mother talking about the night Tabor's burned in 1931, when she and her sister raced downtown to be part of the excitement, and how she laughed at my Aunt as, by the time they ran back up the hill, up the uncountable steps to their house on the south hill, her precious silk stockings had managed to slip down, down, down around her ankles. I believe it was raining that night, and they were both soaking wet by the time they reached the top of those stairs. The silk stockings were reduced to two worthless pieces of flotsam.

I remember as a child, running downtown to Tabor's, to loiter in the comic book section, to meander through the store, to gaze at the unending office supplies and sundries. Tabor's was one of my favorite stores.

It's hard for me to realize that Tabor's will, as we've known it, no longer exist. Oh, the building will remain...A shell of it's once proud pillar-of-the-community self. Possibly many start-ups will rent space in the old brick building, only to be replaced a few months later by a stark, standing emptiness, as several other buildings in dear old Wallace have become. I and several other former residents will no doubt come back to Wallace periodically, and peer into the empty windows, recalling times when Tabor's was one of the true landmarks in Wallace.

I don't at all blame the current owners for closing the business. After all, business must HAVE business to continue to operate. But the closing of Tabor's to me is another death in the community of the Silver Valley and the string of mountain towns who once stood so tall in the Panhandle as well as our native State. I'll miss you, Tabor's, and I'll mourn your loss!