News : For couple united at Alco, store closing brings back many memories

Shanna and Wayne Frickson worked together at Alco when he first asked her out.

While some people saw the news about the closing of the ALCO store and thought about where to buy knitting supplies or organic shampoo or their favorite brand of blue jeans, Shanna Frickson’s first thought was of the memories she has, and the important place that Alco will always have in her history.

Alco is where Wayne and Shanna became friends, while working there part-time during their high school years. Later it was the place where Wayne finally – after a series of hints – asked Shana out. And it was where, while working, they listened to CDs on the store speakers, looking for a wedding song.

“It kinda bums me out that it’s closing,” said Shanna, as she and Wayne visited the store last week, accompanied by their sons, AJ and Kyle.

Shanna shares the couple’s story:

“We were both in high school but never really crossed paths till I started working at Alco,” she said. “He was already working there and trained me. I really liked him and we became instant friends but then it took months until he finally asked me out.”

Shanna said she would even go to the store when Wayne was working, so she could see him. She eventually began giving him hints, and waiting for him to ask her for a date.

Finally, she recalls, “I just said, ‘Well are you going to ask me out?’”

And on Sept. 6, 2000, Wayne did – in what was the tool aisle.

“He leaned over and asked if I would be his girlfriend and patted me on the butt ," Shanna recalls. "Fourteen years later, we are still together with two boys and a dog.”

That former tool aisle now offers personal care products. Shanna and Wayne stood there last Friday, holding their sons, recalling the way the store has changed since 2000. Managers had repositioned the aisles a couple of times, but the product lines have not changed that much, they said.

Shanna now runs the Frickson Animal Salon, while Wayne is a bus mechanic for the Cedar Rapids School District. And, they often still shop at Alco.