For nearly 100 years, Central Seed and Feed has been a part of Wichita Falls, opening a store at 5th and Indiana back in 1919.
Milo Miks, who is the great grandson of founder Ira Miks, says his great grandparents just stumbled upon Wichita Falls.
“They were on their way to the northwest to open up a saw mill and got stuck here because of a blizzard,” Miks said. “They lived in a tent on Kemp Street for a little while. They worked at Green’s Furniture for a short amount of time, and then they opened a wagon yard at 5th and Indiana.”
The family owned business had two additional locations at Parker Square and, most notably, 903 North Beverly. The final store on North Beverly closed it’s doors a year and a half ago, and this Saturday, Bryan Choate will head an auction that he takes great pride in being a part of.
“When you get the opportunity to sell something like this, you take great pride in it,” Choate said. “I mean it is a part of history. When I was a little kid, I would run up and down the aisles and torment the parrot.”
Choate said it was not your typical hardware store. “I loved to come here,” Choate said. “You could get anything in the world. It is not your typical hardware store. It was also a feed store with pump specialists. They had parts for everything. If you could not find a part, you could at least get some advice. It is a really neat store, and you do not see them like that now.”
Auctioning everything off is bittersweet for Miks, who worked there his whole childhood, but his lasting memory will be helping the community.
“I will remember interacting with the local community and helping solve their problems and fix their stuff,” Miks said, “getting to spend time with them and helping them out.”
Choate says that there will be a pre-registration and preview on May 6th before the two ring auction begins on the 32-acre property, May 7th at 9am. The real estate auction will be May 19th.
– Newschannel 6
