John Piercy was the founder of a store which did business in groceries, dry goods and general supplies. When John and his family moved to British Columbia around 1875, the store was sold. In 1877, this store opened as James Coburn and Sons. In 1890, James Coburn passed the store to his son, G. Wesley Coburn. They had extensive trade in farm and household supplies. G. Wesley Coburn ran the store for 64 years.
The store has burned down twice, and the current building (in 2025) is the third building, built after the fire of 1947.