Omaha Exploration

Likely fleeing persecution and poverty facing many Jews at the time, the Wohajanski family landed at Ellis Island like other immigrants. Originally arriving from Poland, they changed their surname to Wohlner after they arrived in the United States. Not even Eli could have predicted the success his sons would have when they relocated to the middle of the country. While four of his sons would go on to open grocery stores in Omaha, Benson and Council Bluffs, it was his youngest who would open a store that would survive more than 100 years.

The grocery business ran in the blood of the Wohlners so it made sense that young Albert got his start when he was just 14. He was working as a butcher alongside his brother Louis at the time. It wasn’t long before he moved up and began managing his brother Harry’s store. This particular store was located at 16th and Fort. It was only after returning from his service in World War I that Albert would open his own store. Located at 3225 California Street, he opened the store in the Gifford Park neighborhood in which he lived with his cousin Sam Frohm in 1918. This store developed a reputation for having the best meat market in town.

Albert got married a few years later and would go on to start a family of his own while operating the store. Everything would change by 1930. His partner Sam passed away and supermarkets were beginning to threaten small independent groceries like the ones that Albert and his brothers owned. Albert, however, was gaining more influence in the Omaha grocery business which led him to start the United Cooperative Food Stores in 1932. The co-op allowed small grocers to offer more competitive prices to their customers. He was elected president in 1935. It would eventually become United A-G Cooperative and then Nash Finch.

Albert would move his grocery from its longtime home in Gifford Park to the more affluent Dundee neighborhood to the west. The new location at 5205 Leavenworth Street was the home of Ben Newman’s grocery store. It would, of course, go on to become a neighborhood fixture to residents in not only Dundee but nearby Happy Hollow and Elmwood Park as well.

Albert’s son-in-law, Sidney Schwartz, took over the family business after Albert retired in 1962. The store continued to thrive under its new owner despite increasing competition from large supermarket chains. Schwartz passed on multiple offers to sell and to expand, preferring that it remain as a neighborhood grocery. Schwartz retired in 1987 at which point his son Mike Schwartz would continue to operate the grocery as a family business. The independent store even expanded in 1992 under his leadership. By this time, it had also developed a reputation for having hard-to-find items. One example was the incredibly popular Dharma sourdough bread. In 2005, Mike bought the equipment from a baker who baked the bread in the basement of the grocery store.

Wohlner’s relocated a third time in 2008 to a larger storefront at 67th and Center in Aksarben Village. Two years later, Schwartz opened a second location at 33rd and Dodge in Midtown Crossing. Finding it too difficult to operate two stores, he sold the Aksarben location in 2012. He preferred the Midtown Crossing location as it felt more like home being close to where the family business started more than 100 years earlier. He also had a role in designing the store. It ceased being a family-owned business in 2020 when it was sold to a former employee and closed for good in 2024.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. See my website for sources. If you enjoy my content, sign up to receive emails or make a donation on my website. You can also follow along or subscribe on my Facebook page. Thank you and keep exploring!

Bonus Pics

Follow me on

• Facebook
• Instagram

Sources

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• http://giffordparkomaha.org/History_Grocery_Stores.html
• https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53bb95fae4b0c9db7aa6458a/t/633983921817977a8cdcc2df/1664713619134/DMPA+February+2022.pdf
• https://www.nps.gov/places/wohlner-s-neighborhood-grocery.htm?utm_source=place&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=small#:~:text=Wohlner’s%20Neighborhood%20Grocery%20is%20a,Neighborhood%20Grocery%2C%20in%20the%20space.