The Waples-Platter Grocery Company was established in 1872, before the City of Denison. Founded as Hanna, Owens & Co., the company supplied Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad workers with provisions in 1871, then moved to Main Street, where a commercial district was quickly established. In 1873 it set up a building in the 100 block of East Main Street and became the first wholesale grocery company in the city. In 1885, E.B. Waples bought interest in the company and was named president, and that same year architect P. Lelardoux designed a large warehouse and headquarters at 104 E. Main Street. The two-story building had cast iron pilasters in the façade, terra cotta lions head statues, keystones, and segmented arch openings, and it was meant to symbolize the company’s prominence in Denison. In 1887 the company was renamed Waples-Platter & Company, and its line of grocery products became known as the White Swan Line. The first branch house at Gainesville opened in 1890, and the Fort Worth branch opened in 1893. In 1913 the Waples-Platter Canning Plant, known as Ranch Style, Inc., opened, and Ranch Style Beans became the company’s most famous and lasting product. The original headquarters building in Denison survived for 128 years until it was demolished in 2013. After the company headquarters moved, the Denison operation remained until 1959, and the original headquarters building was sold to Griffin Wholesale Grocer Company in 1941 when Waples-Platter moved to the annex building at 110-112 S. Houston until 1959.