Ridinger has lived the 'American Dream'

By Jo Chiparo TIME TO RETIRE: Jack Ridinger has been a businessman in Jasonville for more than 50 years. He sold the Shakamak IGA to Mike and Gerry Laycock last month.

On that date in 1951, he bought his first store. On April 26, 2008, he sold the Shakamak IGA, the entrepreneur's last business.

The new owners are Mike and Gerry Laycock.

Throughout those years, it was one success after another for Ridinger who was the ultimate example of the "American dream come true."

He began his successful business quest at a very young age when he took a newspaper route to help his widowed mother with household expenses. There were only 20 on his route when he took it over, and by the time he quit, he had 170 customers.

Never without a job, Ridinger found time to work for Walter Sexton's grocery store while he attended Jasonville High School.

Three days after graduating in 1948, Ridinger was in South Bend with three jobs; however, city life wasn't for him. He longed to be back in Jasonville.

After living in South Bend three years, he heard Walter Sexton was selling his Horace Street grocery. Ridinger sold his new Studebaker and house trailer and moved back to his roots.

First of his business enterprises, the Horace Street grocery was a far cry from the current 1,800 square foot IGA store on Jasonville's East Main Street. As with most "Mom and Pop" stores of the time, there was a pot bellied stove for loafers to gather around and barrels of pickles, sugar and flour lined counters and walls.

Having his own small store didn't halt the young merchant's dreams. After being on Horace Street for three years, Ridinger joined IGA. As his business expanded, he bought the Red and White grocery store on East Main and moved to that location in 1957.

From there, his store business expanded. He built a new store building in 1965 and remodeled and enlarged it twice finally making it the size of the current structure. In the meantime, he acquired other businesses.

In 1967, Ridinger built a strip mall adjacent to the IGA. Across the street from the strip mall, he opened a Laundromat and a car wash facility.

East of the shopping center, Ridinger built a restaurant that was known as Snack-A-Shack. Later the restaurant was replaced with two new buildings on the property that house the Dollar General and Subway Restaurant.

With hard work and "an eye for business," Ridinger's empire grew that included a variety and department store, ladies clothing store in Indianapolis, a sports store and garden center, a shoe store, four other IGA stores, and two Marathon stations. In addition, he was owner and publisher of the Shakamak Shopper for more than 20 years.

"Each time I expanded, it was a challenge and exciting," Ridinger said.

As for his success, Ridinger said he was devoted to his work; he enjoyed it and liked people.

"I also took a lot of chances," he added.

Ridinger said another thing that helped him with his success was that he had good people working for him. His store manager, Jeannette Keller, worked for him for 30 years, starting just out of high school.

Ridinger said one of the highlights of his career was when he served as IGA Senator for Wetterau Foods, which is the IGA distributor.

"As Senator, I represented all the IGA stores in the area. After meeting with the stores' representatives, I voiced their concerns and problems when meeting with the main administration," explained Ridinger.

In 2001, after being in business 50 years, Ridinger was also presented a Half Century Business Award by Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan. The award is a tribute to Indiana's well-established companies and their outstanding contributions to the economic growth and prosperity of the state.

During the past few years, little by little, Ridinger sold all of his businesses except the IGA store. That was the last to go on April 26.

"I feel a little sad," noted Ridinger when asked how it felt to sell his last business, "but I will still stay involved with community activities."

Some of his civic involvements include being on the board of directors for Bloomfield State Bank for 30 years, member of the Linton Elks Club, Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite and Shriners and Jesters. He is also a member of the Greene County Redevelopment.

Ridinger has served on the Jasonville City Council and also was president of the Lions Club. In 2003, he received the award for distinguished alumni from Jasonville High School and received the Ed Sheppard award in 2006.

Now that he is retired, Ridinger said he and his wife, Carol, would be enjoying their cottage on Sullivan Lake during summer months and traveling to see his daughter, Jeannie, who lives in Las Vegas.

In addition to Jeannie, the other Ridinger children are Sonja, Tom, John and Brent.