Fine at 50

It started as a mom and pop business.

And 50 years later it’s still a mom and pop business.

Ruth Hosier remembers the day her father came home from work and told her mother, “Norma, guess what, I just bought a liquor store.”

“That was all the notice she got,” Hosier said.

The year was 1968 and while working for Sears installing appliances, Joe Wallischeck wanted something more.

That “something more” was a little place called North Side Carry Out, right at the corner of North Meridian and Lafayette streets in Portland. 

Norma would staff the store during the day, then Joe would handle evenings after getting off from his day job at Sears.

“It was very much a big leap for them,” said Hosier. “It was an adventure.”

Today, that rickety building is long gone and Portland Carry Outs LLC has three stores: North Side Carry Out, South Side Carry Out, and Union City Carry Out.

The enterprise will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a series of tastings and other promotional events next weekend.

“It’s definitely a mom and pop store, and we want to keep it that way,” said Hosier. She and her siblings all helped out with the business at some time or another. 

“Everybody did their little stint here,” she said.

That includes her son Isaac, who came back from Arizona to help after Hosier was injured in a traffic accident about three years ago. “He’ll be back for the anniversary,” Hosier said.

In 1981, after acquiring a house next door and tearing it down, Joe and Norma built the current North Side building and the rickety original was razed. 

The expansion took them from two cooler doors to 14. The extra space was a huge improvement over the original building.

“It was amazing,” Hosier recalled. “Now, it’s like, ‘Where do we put stuff?’”

In 1988 the Wallischecks purchased the former Macy’s Liquor Store from Suzi Johanning and re-branded it as South Side Carry Out, later moving to its current location at South Meridian and Union streets.

Hosier bought the business from her father in 2005. Norma had died before that, and Joe died about five years ago.

Over the years, the business has seen some dramatic changes. 

“There’s more and more alcohol outlets,” said Hosier, noting that her business has to comply with numerous regulations that don’t affect other retailers. 

And consumer tastes have changed. 

“Now they’re always interested in trying everything new,” said Hosier, citing interest in craft beers, wine, and specialty liquors.

“We have a wonderful customer base here,” she said. “I’ve never been bored.”