Fonk’s sign departs Main Street

—John Henry photo

A piece of Colfax commercial history departed the Main Street scene Monday when the Fonk’s sign came down from the former variety store building.

Steve and Debbie Warwick, who recently purchased the building, have been upgrading the structure which they use for storage in their Sports Shack operation.

The Fonk’ s name derives from a chain of area variety stores operated by A. Fonkelsrud.

The Colfax store, which closed in 2000, was started in 1928 by W.A. Johnson who originally was employed by Fonkelsrud.

Johnson purchased the Colfax store and went on to operate Fonk’s stores...