Three generations of Wallaces and Williamsburg have enjoyed a long and prosperous history that even pre-dates today’s Colonial Williamsburg. The Wallace family patriarch, Robert Wallace, was son of a Chesapeake Bay waterman and graduated from Hampton High School in 1913. He then attended The College of William & Mary on a football scholarship and graduated in 1920, having served three years in World War I. Bob founded his first business in 1920, The College Shop, which is still operated by the Wallace family today, and is now the King’s Treasure. Ever the entrepreneur, Bob owned many businesses, including: The Arcade Gift Shop, Band Box Cleaners, Madison’s, York River Oyster Co. and Williamsburg Bus Terminal. Bob also served as an assistant football coach at William & Mary, president of Williamsburg City Council, James City School Board chairman and member of the board of directors at Colonial Williamsburg.
Bob’s children Robert Jr., Anne and Sam, all at one time or another, were involved in keeping the family enterprises running, but it was Sam and Bob who primarily took over after Robert Sr.’s death in 1962. It was in 1963 that The Christmas Shop was founded in Merchants Square, a novel idea brought forth by Elisabeth Wallace, Robert Sr.’s wife, after seeing a similar store in Carmel, CA. Sam and Bob continued opening, selling and closing various businesses in Williamsburg, as well as businesses in Florida and Maryland, to include: Wallace’s China Palace, Goose Crossing, The Laughing Gull, Williamsburg Brass Co., The Outrigger Shop and the Glass House Point Gift Shop.
It was in 1972 that Williamsburg Merchants Inc. was founded by Sam Wallace, which included: The College Shop (now the King’s Treasure), The Christmas Shop, and Madison’s, all located in the heart of Williamsburg’s Merchants Square. Under Sam Wallace and with the assistance of many longtime dedicated employees, the businesses continued on as they still do today.
Now operated by the third generation, Sam Wallace Jr. and Cabell Wallace, The College Shop (now the King’s Treasure), The Christmas Shop, and The Campus Shop, all located in Merchants Square, have been joined by The Williamsburg General Store, Haagen-Dazs, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, and Wallace’s Trading Post on Richmond Road. Whether you are downtown in Merchants Square or out on the “strip” (Richmond Road), stop by and experience what has made the Wallaces a shopping institution in Williamsburg for over 90 years. |
