Small town grocery stores closing

By Brett Westfall; claims for local editorial #JMC406

According to Erika Pritchard of the Kearney Hub, Dollar General is taking the business away from a small-town grocery store that sold non-perishable items and fresh foods in Ravenna.

From Pritchard’s article, the Public Relations Director for Dollar General Crystal Ghassemi said, “With our company’s foundation rooted in the small town of Scottsville, Ky., Dollar General understands the unique needs of customers in rural areas. In fact, approximately 70 percent of our stores serve communities with a population of 20,000 or less. We believe our small-box retail footprint often provides a complementary option to other retailers that may sell items such as produce and meat.”

Dollar general has taken most of the consumer base away from many local chains in small towns. About 500 locally owned and chain grocery stores in the state remain. More than 20 years ago, there were close to 1,600 stores. All of these facts come from Ghassemi’s article and provided by Kathy Siefken, executive director of the Nebraska Grocery Inudstry Association.

Siefken continued to say that most closures of small-town, locally-owned stores in the past 2 years have been because of Dollar General.

The one thing about locally-owned stores when buying in bulk is that it is not as cheap as the chain stores. In the Ghassemi article, the Ravenna store, owned and operated by the McDowells wasn’t always able to sell enough of the bulk product, relulting in outdated foods, which caused negative publicity. Though the McDowells would respond to comments, they were still trying to compete with grocery stores in Kearney and Grand Island.

Online grocery shopping is also a huge factor in the shutting down of locally owned grocery stores, such as this one in Ravenna. Plus, large stores now have customer service, and around the Kearney area, it doesn’t take as long to get ahold of people compared to large cities. The quality of the people and the knowledge of information is quite a difference often.

With the help of technology and chains across America, Dollar General certainly has their demographic figured out, but what about truly fresh produce, will someone have to go to HyVee in Kearney or wait for a farmers market in the summer?

Personally, I love chain stores because of how much cheaper it can be, around this area to buy in bulk and to save money, even if it is just a subtle change for quality. The one thing that local grocery stores have, though, is fresh meat and produce, and in the middle of Nebraska, that’s the good stuff.

I believe that if larger, chain grocery stores, such as Dollar General are going to open in smaller towns, there should be something hosted outside the store or a section on the inside for people and smaller companies to be able to sell fresh foods. I think cans, frozen goods, and almost everything else sold by the chain companies are more well managed, believe it or not, to have cheaper items and money to fix issues quicker. Reliability is key for grocery stores.

If chain grocery stores can get behind supporting local communities and help sell products, that’s a win-win, but when it comes to locally owned stores, pride is a huge factor for communities and large stores do diminish that. Efficiency and pricing and having large connections is what helps chains like Dollar General excel compared to the locally owned places.

I think Dollar General can help that community tremendously, but locally owned stores are going to be rare to see if they cannot keep up on prices. Even if the store has better customer service, it still remains a grocery store, a place for consumers to stock up their refrigerator and cabinets with food that is good for you and food that is bad for you.