Trainors Store was originally constructed in 1896 as two store fronts, one a butcher shop and one a grocery store owned by Dan Trainor. During the 1920s the store was operated by the Universal Grocery Company and during the 1930s by Kroger Grocery. Shortly after World War II it became Troia’s Supermarket. During the war, building inspection records indicate that the upstairs of the building housed as many as 27 people including 17 children.
The succession of grocers remodeled the first floor, joining the two store fronts, adding exterior coolers, a storage shed, and a “modern” glass vestibule. By the 1970s little remained of the original character of the unique corner grocery.
When Delta Properties purchased the building in 1990, John Troia maintained a small butcher shop behind what had become a takeout pizza parlor. Shortly thereafter, the Madison Children’s Museum converted the first floor to a design studio and shop space for constructing their exhibits.
In 2005 as part of the overall framework set forth in the Bassett Neighborhood Plan, offending exteiror additions were removed, bricks were tuckpointed, and the entire structure was renovated to offices. Today the building is occupied by Midwest Environmental Advocates and Microsoft. Two grand daughters of Dan Trainor, perhaps the longest term residents of the Bassett neighborhood, still live in a house behind the “store.”