Small towns try to save vital grocery stores

KENT CITY, Mich.  Scott Weston figured there would be a dip in business at his hardware store after the only grocery store in this town of 1,100 people closed in December.

He wasn't expecting the bottom to fall out, though. "It's cut my business in half," says Weston, 48, who has owned Master Supply & Hardware for eight years.

Since Kent City Marketplace closed, he says, residents and nearby farmers drive to Sparta, Cedar Springs or Grand Rapids to buy food — and often do their other shopping at big stores in those communities.

At Grice's Pharmacy, across Muskegon Street from Weston's place, it's the same story. The lack of a grocery store "has been very detrimental" to its business, says pharmacist Melissa Hills, 36. "I think everybody in town is affected."

Weston worries about the fate of Kent City. Other businesses, including his, might close if people stop patronizing them, he says. He wonders whether people will move away and then the schools will shut down. "We're neighbors," he says. "We're supposed to take care of each other."

Weston's concerns are not misplaced, says David Procter, director of the Center for Engagement and Community Development at Kansas State University. He studies the demise of rural groceries and advises towns on how to keep them open. "Small groceries are part of the critical infrastructure of rural communities," along with post offices and schools, he says. "When one of those goes, it really does begin to have a domino effect."

There were 213 rural groceries in Kansas in 2007 when Procter began studying the issue. Since then, 87 closed, he says, although the net loss is about half that number because some new stores have opened.

A ripple effect

Linda Gobler, president of the Michigan Grocers Association, says the recession and slow recovery have taken a toll on small, independent stores. "We had no idea that it would be as extensive as it has been, not just in Michigan but across the country," she says.

Gobler says groceries are "the hub of a community. … When they leave, there's shock, then the ripple effect as other businesses start feeling it."

In Kent City, they already are. Siblings Dave Lutz and Lisa Johnson, owners of Red Rock Grille & Café, sometimes run out of lettuce, lemons or milk and now have to drive for miles to buy them or do without.

Bert Rose, 61, says Kent City's residents probably contributed to the loss of their store. When it was still open, he says, many people spent their money instead at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and other stores in neighboring towns with broader selections and cheaper prices.

"They weren't factoring in the cost of gas for going to town and back," he says. "Now if you want to do serious shopping you've got to go a long way. I miss our old store severely."

There are two convenience stores here that carry milk and bread but no fresh produce or meat. The Family Dollar Store started stocking a few basics after the grocery closed. Churches started offering rides to senior citizens who don't have cars or don't want to drive for groceries out of town.

Really a shame

Karen Wellman, 69, lives a few miles from town and used to drive to Kent City to shop, then stop at the café. Now she drives 8 miles in the other direction, plans her shopping lists more carefully and shops less often.

Harlan Krehbiel, 81, is closing Luray Grocery in Luray, Kan., after failing to find a buyer for the store he has owned for eight years. The town has about 250 residents, most of whom buy their food at big stores in nearby towns, he says.

"It's very bittersweet, and it's really a shame for a small town to lose a grocery store," Krehbiel says. "Other businesses are affected and pretty soon it's a ghost town."

Some towns find novel ways to keep their stores open. Nine months after the only grocery in Walsh, Colo., closed, the community, population 600, decided to sell $50 shares and reopen it as a cooperative. "It has been win-win for the whole dadgum town," says Rick Mills, a former chairman of the grocery store's board.

The store brings in about $1.4 million in annual sales, has a full- and part-time staff of 14 and even makes deliveries. Other towns, he says, "can pick themselves up by their bootstraps, or they can go down the tubes."

The 650 people in Leeton, Mo., had been without a grocery for a decade when town leaders opened the Bulldog Express in 2009 as a project by high school business classes. It is staffed by students and is doing so well it will add a coffee shop and deli, says teacher Marijayne Manley.