By Pat Culverhouse
Three thousand, six hundred and fifty days ago, 36-year-old Larry Gipson became his own boss when he inserted keys and unlocked the doors of Harris Corner at the corner of E. Union (U.S. Hwy. 80) and Fort St.
When he turned the lock to close the doors Feb. 28, he officially said farewell after 30 years behind the counter of his neighborhood convenience store.
“I’m officially retiring from Harris Corner,” Gipson said, smiling. “I want to leave while my health is reasonably good so I can travel, hunt, fish and just do whatever.”
Business hours at Harris Corner have been 6 a.m. until 9 p.m., seven days a week, and for every one of those 10,650 days, “I’ve always been on post,” Gipson said.
Gipson began his work career with West Gibson right out of high school. About a year later he went to work for Safeway-Harvest Foods, with assignments in Minden, Hot Springs, Arkansas, Monroe and Minden (again). During his 18 years with the grocery, he worked his way from stocking shelves to store manager.
Why did he decide to leave a company where he had a nice salary and four-weeks annual vacation plus other benefits?
“It was probably the grind of working six days a week, 12 hours a day,” Gipson said with a laugh. “I thought it would be better on this side, so I took the plunge. What I did was add a day to every week and about four hours to each day. But I have no regrets, none whatsoever.”
His early goals as an independent businessman were not all that complicated, Gipson said.
“I wanted to make enough to provide comfortably for my family, and I wanted to pay all my bills on time,” he said. “Mr. Hal Jackson trusted me enough to loan me the money to go into business and I wanted to be real sure I paid that back.”
Gipson said his “ride” at Harris Corner has been a good one, giving him the chance to form relationships and network with all types of people in the community.
“I have a good relationship with most people in town and this is how I keep up with what’s going on around me,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who it is or the entity, I’m out there networking…rich, poor, black, white. It doesn’t matter.”
Gipson said Harris Corner not only provided a living, it’s also been a training ground for the future of many in his family.
“My children worked here. I was trying to teach my three girls and my nieces how to work, how to be responsible and it worked out well, “ he said. “They all went on to obtain masters’ degrees. I wanted my kids to be educated, to be able to take care of themselves without having to depend on a man.”
Gipson said each of his children “…fed off my oldest daughter who sort of paved the way for all of them. The rest picked up and ran with it.” Sadly, his oldest daughter passed away in 2014.
The message he delivered to his children extended to others who became employees at Harris Corner. Over the course of his 30 years, Gipson has employed mostly young females.
“I wanted these young ladies to have the same opportunities as my children. I worked their work schedule around their school schedule. I wanted to expose and teach them about work and help them finish college if that’s what they wanted,” Gipson said.
From his corner of Fort and E. Union, he’s seen a lot of changes over the years. Times have changed, Gipson said, especially in people’s work ethic.
“The biggest change? Employees, especially since the pandemic. We didn’t realize what a total mess it would be coming out of that. People don’t want to work and if they do, they think they should be paid $15 an hour. A small business like mine can’t afford that. Shoot, I don’t make $15 an hour and I’m still the last one to get paid,” he said with a chuckle.
Gipson also pointed to other changes that have negatively impacted the world today.
“We’ve taken God out of the schools and we’ve taken away discipline and corporal punishment. I think we really messed up. I can understand why, but some of these kids need the discipline. And the family isn’t the same. Family is important. It’s the foundation,” he said.
“When I was a kid we had to be home before sunset, we sat down to supper, our parents listened to the conversations of kids. And, we were disciplined corporally. I’m 66 years old and I wish I had one more whipping.”
During his time as both employed and self-employed, Gipson developed a very simple philosophy on how to succeed.
“Hard work. It’s pretty simple. Of course you need a good education these days but hard work will take you a lot of places,” he said. “You can be the smartest guy in the whole world but without hard work, you won’t succeed.
Gipson said he loves Minden, but noted there’s a need for everyone to come together to make this one town with an eye on the future.
“We do have a problem because there’s a black Minden and a white Minden and that’s sad,” he said. “I’ve talked about this with our mayors and administrations. It’s a problem that we won’t fix overnight, maybe not in our lifetime, but we must recognize it and try to do something.”
He also stressed that Minden’s black community needs to learn to support one another more, especially black-owned businesses.
Gipson and his wife Kathy, who works with him daily at the store, have plans to just take it easy for a little while after his retirement. Then, a vacation and visits to one of their favorite places is on the menu.
“We have a place on Lake D’Arbonne that we love,” he said. “It’s in a cul-de-sac and it’s quiet. It’s really nice overlooking the lake. We love to go there, but we won’t be moving there. The wife won’t do that.”
Gipson said although he’s retiring, Harris Corner will remain under new ownership.
While he’s stepping away from the business life he’s known for the past 30 years, Gipson is not going away from his involvement in Minden and its future.
“I may be going away from the business, but I’m not going anywhere when it comes to Minden,” he said. “I’m interested in our town and I want to see us reach our potential. There are things I want to do. I’ll be around.”
