Editing Rogers, Arkansas (section)

===Historic commerce===
The first retail business owned by the Stroud family was a store in [[Pea Ridge, Arkansas]], which was co-owned by Allen Bryant Stroud (1831–1914) and his son Harlan Lafayette (H.L.) Stroud (1858–1950).<ref name="prark2004">{{Cite web|url=http://www.prark.org/hsapr04.htm|title=Solutions &#124; GCM Computers}}</ref> That business was established prior to 1879 and Allen Stroud also served as postmaster at Pea Ridge for a time.<ref name="prark2004"/> In 1884, H.L. Stroud sold his interest in the Stroud store in Pea Ridge and purchased a dry goods store at the corner of [[Walnut Street Historic District (Rogers, Arkansas)|First and Walnut Streets]] in Rogers which he named [[Stroud's Mercantile]].

In 1887 he brought in his brother Evan Giesen (1868–1952) to serve as manager of his new business.<ref name="rogersarkansas1">{{cite web|url=http://rogersarkansas.com/museum/photo/stroudhome.asp|title=Rogersarkansas.com|website=rogersarkansas.com|access-date=January 8, 2018}}</ref> In 1891 H.L. Stroud moved his business into a storefront on the north side of the 100 block of Walnut Street. Stroud's continued to prosper, and in 1899 H.L. built the brick building at 114–116 West Walnut Street.<ref name="rogersarkansas1"/> Stroud's continued to be the leading retail business in Rogers up into the 1960s, when in 1962 Sam Walton opened the first location of what would become the retail giant Walmart just seven blocks away.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} Walton's new store combined with the nationwide movement of retail centers from aged downtowns to malls and shopping centers slowly eroded Stroud's customer base, leading the locally beloved retailer to permanently close in 1993 after 109 years in business.  In 1912 the city council formed a commission of local businessmen to facilitate the paving of downtown Rogers.  Despite the constant complaints of dusty and muddy streets, and the enthusiastic support of prominent citizens such as [[Coin Harvey]], bickering over the cost and method of paving delayed the start of the project until July 1924.  The downtown area was paved with [[concrete]] and overlaid with bricks in rows, changing to a basket weave pattern at the intersections of streets.  The work was completed in December 1924, and the brick pavement remains today, with renovations done to the streets in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://friendsofrogersmuseum.com/Friendly-Note-January-2011.php |title=Our Historic Brick Streets and New Intersections, by James F. Hales |publisher=friendsofrogersmuseum.com |access-date=August 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316160157/http://friendsofrogersmuseum.com/Friendly-Note-January-2011.php |archive-date=March 16, 2012 }}</ref>