Photo by Mike Lamb Scott Veire stands behind the counter inside Veire’s convenient store in Ivanhoe. The business started in 1967 as a plumbing business and eventually transitioned into a small grocery story and finally the convenient store.

In 1967, Loren and Janice Veire moved to Ivanhoe and started a plumbing and custom spraying business. Ten years later, that business turned into a thriving small-town grocery store and eventually a convenient store.

Through the years, the Veires developed a business motto that continues to thrive to this day.

“Whatever the community needs, we try,” Scott Veire said.

That business motto, according to Scott Veire, was instilled in him and his siblings by his parents.

He took over what is now a thriving family-operated convenient store from his parents in 1984. He and his four other siblings worked in the store while growing up. And Scott Veire’s children also worked in the store while growing up.

“When someone couldn’t cover a shift, guess who has to cover it,” referring the family members through the years, including his children.

While his mother had retired as owner in 1984, she still came around to help out until her death in 2024.

“She was 80 when she passed away. A few weeks before she passed, she was down here, helping me put away freight. When she got tired, she would sit down here (dining area) and have coffee with the gentlemen. Then she would say I’m tired, I’m going home,” he said.

While he does take vacations now and then, Scott Veire shows up regularly to the store.

“I have good employees. I get away and visit my kids in Phoenix for family vacations. Otherwise, I’m here every day. It’s kind of like milking cows. The book work has to be done every day. Have to get things done for the next day,” he said. “I’m not ready to retire yet. I keep plugging away. My parents both worked until they died. I don’t think I can do that.”

That work ethic, however, didn’t just occur in the store. There’s not only a lot of history in that store, there’s a lot of history of giving in the community.

“I was a firefighter for 30 years. I retired a few years ago. We have a good group of young guys coming in, so it was time to retire,” Scott Veire said. “Back when the high school was still here, I used to coach junior high football. I really enjoyed that.”

Meanwhile, the store was adapting with the times.

“We were probably one of the first convenient stores in ’77, Veires said. “Then we added the deli foods. This is where out subs and pizza are very popular. Our main focus is deli food — trying to keep the people who are in a hurry, fed and on the road.

“At one time we used to be the Blockbuster. We used to have videos. This wall (pointing to the wall along the dining area) was covered with videos. At that time we are the Pizza Hut, the Subway, the Dairy Queen. You have to do it all in a small community. Tried to do anything the community needs. I’m sure there will be something that will come up in the future.”

Veire said they even sold party balloons with helium. And gas pumps had a long history outside the store. Today there is a car wash.

“We do a lot of baking. We bake our own croissants here. We make all our own sub bread. And of course the pizza. It’s as fresh as you can get without rolling out the dough. We bake our own muffins. The girls are baking all day long,” he said.

“We have a pub burger every Wednesday. We have people in Ivanhoe at noon time with the quarter pound hamburger. We drag it through the garden. The only thing we charge extra is the bacon.”

That detail to providing fresh food to customers transitions into helping the community.

“There are a lot of different organizations in town. There is a group called Forever Jen that do fundraisers, giving back money to causes. The last few years we have been helping them out by giving them all the buns they need for free. The local fire department when they have fundraisers — we (donate) the pop and buns if they are serving buns. Depending on what they are doing. And the ambulance crews as well.

“There are other organizations in town that — when they are doing their fundraisers, I sell their stuff to them for cost. There’s a group investing in Ivanhoe that does a walking tacos every year. They sell around a 1,000 walking tacos. We sell them everything they need. They are making money to reinvest into the community. So why not. The more money they can make, the more money they can give out.”

Veire says he believes in the Ivanhoe community.

“It’s a good community to live. You know everybody. You don’t know some of the people that come and go,” he said. “If you don’t know them, you end up knowing them down the road and becoming friends with them.”