Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
OKY DOKY
OKY DOKY. Local chain of popular convenience stores. The first Oky Doky was opened by Jack Thompson in 1964 at 22nd Street and Central Avenue. This was the first of twelve convenience food stores opened in Dubuque, East Dubuque, Galena and Freeport, Illinois. The name of the chain came from an expression Thompson used as a child.
The Thompson strategy was to purchase existing but barely profitable neighborhood stores in good locations and convert them to convenience stores. Winders Food Market, the previous name of the first Oky Doky, was such a site.
As more stores were opened, Thompson began a franchise arrangement that called for the store's operator to pay rent on the building in addition to 3 percent of the store's gross receipts in exchange for the Oky Doky name, buying programs, and marketing.
