Sinclair Foods • Stan & Shirley Sinclair
"Sinclairs has a well thought out structure and it’s awesome how they are still going strong." - Jace Marshall
We learn something new each time we visit the Sinclairs. If you've read our past articles about this iconic entrepreneur couple, then you know:
• They were married on Thanksgiving Day 62 years ago
• They first met when Shirley and her Grandma went to one of the original Sinclairs stores where Shirley saw Stan was stocking pork & beans on the shelf. They began dating soon after.
• Stan has an immense amount of Jersey County history compiled - especially regarding local businesses.
• Shirley was a teacher for 15 years.
• Stan was in the military reserves and one of the hardest days of his life was when he had to hug Shirley and their oldest daughter goodbye and they didn't know if he would ever see them again due to the Vietnam war. Shirley anxiously waited in the car listening to the radio, with Stan's mother, the day the President announced that Stan's military group would not be going. You can imagine the joy inside of that car.
• "You are only as good as your worst employee." Shirley always gives this advice to CEO students.
• The sausage is Stan's father's recipe.
• The store has a unique shape because they wanted the aisles to be short due to customer feedback of disliking "100 mile aisles".

New Things We Learned:
• Sinclairs used to sell shotgun shells and barbwire
• Their store colors are red and white because that used to be the color of most of the canned good items
• Stan's father trained all of the current meat cutters
• Advice to students: Perseverance is key when it comes to running a business.

Thank you for hosting us and for the delicious breakfast from the cafe!