Name: Mike and Leslie Keeth
Family: Daughter, Hannah, 18, and son, Kory, 16.
In Town: Mike and Leslie Keeth operate Hannah’s General Stores. With six stores it is quite an operation. Mike named the stores in the order they were opened: Niangua, Elkland, Fair Play, Conway east, Morrisville and Conway west.
Leslie began working at the Elkland store in 1987 and Mike joined the business in 1995. Over the years the business has grown. Mike said, “We have about 60 employees; 10 per store.” They also own and operate Hannah K Oil.
In the Country: Mike and Leslie live in Marshfield, Mo., but own a 200-acre farm near Conway. Mike said, “We raise commercial beef cows. We have a cow/calf operation. We have about 160 cows. Right now I’ve only got about 75 calves because one crop (of calves) is already done.”
The old and the new: Leslie’s father, the late Gary Hannah, established the first Hannah’s General Store in Niangua in 1981. Last fall, Mike and Leslie started Hannah K Oil. Mike said, “It’s something we’ve been working on and thinking about doing for the last two or three years. We offer commercial and farm deliveries for fuel, as well as service some of our stores with it; supplying oil and fuel. Not only do we offer diesel fuel and gasoline, we have a full line of lubricants and oils. We have motor oils and hydraulic oils.” The warehouse will open soon in Marshfield, but all products are available now by calling Hannah K Oil.
Merging Town and Country: Mike said, “We feed out calves and sell farm-raised beef. We offer it in the store.” Leslie added, “Right now we’re just selling it out of the freezer. If you want two pounds of hamburger, you can go and buy two pounds of hamburger, and steaks, and roasts.” This is available at the Conway and Elkland stores.
By Brenda Brinkley
