Moville has a grocery in stock
Omaha World-Herald | By Elizabeth Ahlinm | November 28, 2009
MOVILLE, Iowa — What's a small-town Iowan in search of pickled herring to do?
Nancy Wiese's last-minute Thanksgiving run was much easier this year than last. On Wednesday, when she needed corn syrup for her sweet potatoes and pickled herring for the 12-person family celebration she was hosting, she made a quick trip to Chet's Foods, also known as the Moville Market.
Last year, such a grocery run would have required a 35-mile round-trip expedition to Sioux City.
After more than a year without a grocery store, Moville, a town of about 1,500 people, eluded the fate dealt to some rural towns. A group of residents raised more than $250,000 to prepare a store for a grocer to operate. Chet and Linda Davis, who own Chet's Foods in nearby Kingsley, took them up on the offer, making forgotten gallons of milk and loaves of bread less of a crisis for local families.
But having a local market is more than that, say rural affairs experts. Grocery stores rank with schools and churches as signs of small-town vitality. Without one, it's hard to keep and lure young families. Without young residents, towns begin to die.
The owners of the old Moville grocery store decided not to rebuild after a fire ravaged it in April 2008. Almost immediately, a local group formed to tackle the problem, said Heath Mallory, a Moville resident and organizer of the effort.
The group quickly realized that it was unlikely anyone would come to Moville on his own and open a store. The group began to interview small-town grocery operators, asking if they were interested in opening a store in Moville and what it would take to lure them there.
A building on the edge of town was donated for the market, and a year and a half of fund- raisers brought in enough cash and materials to get things up and running. The local group, which formed a nonprofit organization, owns the building, which is leased to the Davises. The store opened in October.
Mallory, who isn't a Moville native, said he was surprised at how much support the community gave to the project.
“We've had people walk up and give us a check for a thousand dollars who I know don't have a thousand dollars lying around,” Mallory said. “Retired people on fixed incomes have offered us $20 a month, every month.”
That community support is key, said Kathie Starkweather of the Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska.
Shopping is entertainment for many people, Starkweather said. They travel to a bigger town. They shop, they dine, they “make a day of it.” A local store can't survive if the local people don't shop there, she said.
On Wednesday, the market in Moville didn't seem to have any problems drawing people. When Wiese stopped in for the corn syrup and pickled herring, several others walked the aisles.
Wiese said she would never want to live without a local market again. “It was horrible,” she said. “If at the last minute you needed something, you were just out of luck.”
Rich Bartom, who lives just outside Moville, stopped in to buy a foil roasting pan for the Thanksgiving turkey. If the store wasn't there, he said, “we'd probably just do without.”
It's hard to know how many small towns are dealing with the problem, said Jerry Fleagle, president of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association. But he knows that, in Iowa, the grocery industry loses about 10 to 15 stores each year.
Most of those are small, independent stores, not large ones in Council Bluffs or Des Moines. The reasons for closing vary, he said. Often, stores are driven out by competition, or an older grocer retires and nobody wants to take over the store.
New grocers have problems making ends meet for several reasons. Food suppliers often have minimum buying requirements, and either impose a penalty or won't deliver if grocery stores don't meet the quota. High energy costs contribute to expenses.
In addition, longtime grocers often own their businesses outright, making their profit margin larger. For new grocers, debt for start-up expenses can kill the idea before it comes to fruition, said Steph Larsen of the Center for Rural Affairs.
“Moville is remarkable,” Fleagle said. “It's a real credit to the community and grocer that has come to Moville.”
The Moville store has nice, wide aisles. Paper autumn leaves are taped on the freezer doors that are the gateway to half-gallon ice cream and pre-cut french fries. Those items likely could have been purchased at the local convenience store, but it's the fresh produce on the other side of the store that is really important, Starkweather said.
“Access to food is a quality-of-life issue,” Starkweather said.
Some towns have gotten pretty creative in an effort to have a grocery source in town, Larsen said. Larsen has been talking with rural affairs experts in places as varied as Oregon, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
She's seen towns create cooperatives when the local store closes. There have also been school- or church-based stores.
In Cody, Neb., teachers and students have been working on a project that would give that town of 149 a student-run grocery store, give students business experience and encourage some entrepreneurial flair among them.
Cody's store is still in the planning stages, but it's important. Right now, in Cody, going to the supermarket means an almost 80-mile round trip drive to Valentine.
“The most important thing, regardless of business model, is that the community is involved,” Larsen said.
In Moville, hopes are it will stay that way.
“Everybody that comes in is excited about it being open,” said Becky Sitzmann, manger of Chet's Foods in Moville. “I can't imagine not having a grocery store.”
Contact the writer:
444-1310, elizabeth.ahlin@owh.com
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