Rural grocery stores are dying.
Here's how some small towns are trying to save them
"About five years ago, Emerson, Neb., lost its grocery store.
Residents were forced to drive at least 20 miles
to stock their pantries at the nearest full-service store."
"Then last year this village of 824 people came together to open a new market. They raised nearly $160,000 of their own money — double their initial fundraising goal. And Post 60 Market was born."
"The cooperatively owned store moved into the old American Legion building. It sells a full range of groceries, including fresh produce, meat, and household supplies."
"Investors receive discounts and dividends and elect a board of directors each year to oversee large financial decisions."
"With being a co-op and so many people bought in — it's like you got multiple owners who have just as much commitment to see this thing succeed," says manager Brian Horak."
(We seriously might want to start thinking about that or were gonna be a "food desert" here in the near future with elderly and shut-ins not having access to food close by...It's worth thinking about, as this trend isn't going to reverse.)
"Rural communities have been losing population for decades making it harder for businesses to stay afloat, says Rial Carver, program leader for the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University."
"So as small towns get smaller, that means fewer sales coming in the door for our grocery store," Carver says."
"Big box stores and grocery consolidation have added even more pressure on local grocers. A recent USDA report shows the percentage of grocery sales from the nation's top 20 retailers more than doubled from 1990 to 2020, while the consolidation was more pronounced in rural areas."
"These independent, small town stores don't have as much buying power as some of the larger chains that you'll find in urban areas," Carver says.
"The Rural Grocery Initiative found that between 2008 and 2018, 105 grocery stores closed in rural Kansas, and in half of those places, no new stores have opened."
"The Rural Grocery Initiative was created in 2006 to help establish and sustain grocery stores in rural communities throughout Kansas. RGI has helped fund 13 different grocery stores since its grant program started in 2017."
(We should get one going here in KY...ASAP.)
"We've seen success with communities kind of becoming engaged through cooperatives, through public-private partnerships," Carver says. "We've even seen nonprofits and school-run grocery stores, as well as municipally run stores in communities."
"The Circle C Market is a good example of a new approach."
"It's run by the Cody-Kilgore school district in Cody, Neb., a town of just 167."
"We are vital to the community," says teacher and store manager Liz Ravenscroft. "The next closest grocery store is 40 miles to the east, and the other closest grocery store is an hour to the west."
"The store got started in 2008 with the help of several national organizations and a grant from the USDA. A similar grant program is offered today, in addition to other rural food initiatives. The Village of Cody owns the building, while the school district and a local non-profit, Cowboy Grit, helped finance the store."
"Each semester about eight students help at the Circle C Market as part of a class, learning important skills from Ravenscroft."
"I teach them how to do the different orders, like pop orders and chip orders," she says. "I also have students that I teach how to do billing."
Community leaders might wanna at least start thinking about it anyway...
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