The business that in later years was called the Garth M. Hosking General Store was established in 1891 by Mrs. Flora (Henry) Mitchell (1853-1918) who opened a store in her home in Oyster Pond, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. Flora was the widow of John Duncan Mitchell (1840-1885) and was addressed as Mrs. J.D. Mitchell, but used F. Mitchell in her store stationery. The store was known locally as “Flowie Dunc’s” or “Mrs. J.D.’s”. In 1894 the business was moved from the home to a new building in Oyster Pond, where it remained until it closed.

During the 1900s, Flora Mitchell began passing store responsibilities to her son William Mose Ogle “Willie O” Mitchell (1881-1949) and daughter Roxanna “Roxie” Ethel (Mitchell) Hosking (1877-1941). After Flora’s death in 1918, William was the primary shopkeeper. During this time, stationery for the store used the name W.M.O. Mitchell, General Dealer but locally the store was known as “Mitchell’s” or “Willie O’s”. During the 1920s, Roxanna and her husband Frederick William Hosking (1874-1931) also ran an ice cream parlour on the second floor of the store. W.M.O. Mitchell also sold gas via hand cranked pumps, but this was phased out after Roxanna’s son Garth Merdon Leon Hosking (1912-1994) opened the Hosking’s Garage nearby in the late 1930s.

After the death of W.M.O. Mitchell on August 27, 1949, the store came under the ownership of Garth Hosking. Under Hosking’s ownership the store stationery used the name Garth M. Hosking General Store, and was known as the Hosking General Store or simply the Hosking Store. The store was operated primarily by Garth’s wife Mildred Edna (Roberts) Hosking (1916-2009) until it closed around 1975.