In Vinton, Iowa residents are noticing that more and more small town grocery stores are closing in the area. Business owners say the reason for this is the constant opening of big superstores that also sell groceries.
Just last week, Roy’s Hometown grocery announced its plans of closing down. It is the latest in a series of small town grocery stores closing down in rural Iowa. Because of this, 10 people working part time jobs and 6 people working full time at the grocery store will be unemployed when it closes. This happening will also leave residents in Vinton with only one grocery store, Fareway, and a variety of convenience stores.
According to a study made by the Extension’s ReCap Program of State University of Iowa, the amount of employees in grocery stores decreased from 1,400 in 1995 to around 700 in 2005. This data is inversely proportional to the number of superstores offering groceries which increased by 175 percent.
Main Street Market owner Don McCurdy said that the future of his store is still unknown as Wal-Mart has plans of expanding its store to sell groceries. McCurdy’s store is located in Manchester, Iowa. He and his wife also operate three stores in Coggon, Iowa.
In Vinton, customers who shop at Roy’s said that they will certainly miss the personal service and the convenience that they have been getting. When it eventually closes, residents will be left with only Fareway, and they don’t open on Sundays. Roy’s owner, Roy Fish, declined to give a comment regarding the decision to close the store.
Leave A Comment