Ben Akert

Ben Akert, Akert Market

William Bennet (Ben) Akert moved to Reno from the eastern Nevada company town of Ruth in 1945. His parents, Bluma and Bill, purchased Grant Anderson’s market at the corner of East 4th Street and Alameda (later Wells Avenue) and opened Akert Market, where Ben worked as a teenager. The shop closed in 1963 and the building was torn down. In 1966, Ben founded the local chain Ben’s Discount Liquors. Photo by Patrick Cummings

Full Oral History Transcript

Interviewed in 2012, Ben Akert describes the appeal of the Coney Island Bar and Restaurant, an institution first established on East 4th Street in the 1920s. Recorded by Matt Fearon.

 

Ben Akert, whose family owned Akert Market at the corner of East 4th Street and Alameda (later Wells) Avenue, describes Wells Avenue before the construction of the overpass that bypassed East 4th Street. Recorded by Matt Fearon.

 

Ben Akert, interviewed in 2012, describes working at Akert Market, which was owned and operated by his family at 803 East 4th Street from 1945-1963. Recorded by Matt Fearon.