By the time the Sheldon Willock's Economy Store opened in Columbia in August 1929, he already owned two others, one in Campbellsville and the other in Springfield. Some time later, he opened another in Hodgenville, and in 1937, the number grew to five with his purchase and renovation of the Farris & Bailey five and dime in Greensburg.

The Economy Store in Columbia closed in mid-1941, whereupon T.W. Roberts, who had managed the store for about eighteen months, immediately opened Roberts 5c-10c-25c in the same location on the Square.