Founded circa 1950 as Fiedler’s Food Locker by Leonard W. Fiedler, it operated as a small grocery and food store and offered lockers for the community to store frozen and refrigerated foods. Fiedler sold the building and business to Jane Brower Frozen Foods, Inc. in 1956.

When John Brower moved to Holt in 1954, he immediately entered into the frozen food business. The initial business was known as Jane’s Barbecue, named for Brower’s beloved wife Jane. Jane’s Barbecue operated out of their home on Dean Street in Holt and sold ready to heat and serve items. It wasn’t long before Jane’s Barbecue outgrew the space on Dean Street.

John bought this building in 1956. It had a commercial refrigeration system, something Brower needed to run the business. The commercial space was necessary as the business grew and Jane’s Barbecue was sold across the state of Michigan. Jane’s had distributors in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo. There were also Jane's Barbecue brokers in Grand Rapids, Detroit, and in the thumb. Brower had the opportunity to take the Jane’s Barbecue business to the national level – an opportunity that he declined in order to keep his family intact and local.

With that decision, Brower kept Jane’s Barbecue on a small scale. In 1960, Jane’s Barbecue got into the retail business. The 1960 switch into retail also came with a new name: Brower’s Foods. The business grew again in 1977 with the addition of the hardware portion of Brower’s. John Brower said the business was modeled after an old general store – a pattern which worked out well as the business lasted nearly sixty years in entirety.

Brower’s Food & Hardware closed in 2014 when the family sold the business. The building still stands at 2102 North Aurelius Road in Holt with extensive renovations and the new name, Holt Fine Wine and Spirits. The extreme south end of the building was demolished, including the loss of one of the original lockers in the southeast corner.

The old signs were painted by local artist Sterling Silver Alf. They were lost when the store closed and new owners renovated.