For the first two decades of the 20th century, Everett William Conant (1843-1928) operated the grocery store in Strong’s Block of businesses near Beacon and Woodward Streets. Conant relocated from Worcester, where he had also been a grocer, seeing the opportunity to serve the growing community in Waban. Conant’s Store housed the local post office and provided a variety of dry goods and daily provisions.

The Conant family lived around the corner from the store on Moffat Road. The 1900 U.S. Census shows their household included two sons and their daughter, a public school teacher. Abbie Conant, Everett’s wife, ran the flower shop with help from Fritz Crele, an immigrant from Switzerland who boarded with the family. Other households nearby at that time included immigrants from Ireland, Sweden, Italy, and Nova Scotia, some of whom were hired to work on Waban farms.