What do you love about your small-town grocery store?
CLOSE TO HOME
Support your store. Sure, they don’t have large quantities, but it is better than driving far away to get groceries. If customers don’t support the small-town stores, they close, and there goes the store. And you know the owners. You don’t have to drive that far.
Allen Eberle
KEM Electric Cooperative
SOCIAL ASPECT
My parents owned and operated a grocery store during the 1950s and 1960s in North Dakota.
As an 8-year-old boy, I helped my parents by stocking shelves, cleaning and helping customers. This responsibility made me into the man I am today.
What I loved was the community social interaction that took place inside the grocery store. Sure, people came in to get groceries, but also to spend time talking about their day and local events. It was a time when people took the time out of their day to visit with one another.
John Schiermeister
Capital Electric Cooperative
BIGGER MIGHT NOT BE BETTER
The small-town grocery store is the lifeblood of numerous communities. Without it, many people will be driving farther away, spending more money in other stores and diminishing the community.
Small-town grocery stores are struggling across the state due to people shopping in bigger stores to save a few dollars, which aids in the decline of the hometown grocery store. If you want to keep your grocery store open, then shop there. Spending at least $35 a week or more may help keep the doors open.
They may not have a big variety, but do you really need more choices of dressings, cereals or cake mixes when you usually buy the same ones all the time? Buying bigger does not mean saving money.
I like my local store, where I know the clerks and know right where my food choices are located.
Marlene Kouba
Slope Electric Cooperative
NOT ONLY A GROCERY STORE
I work at our small-town grocery store. We sell everything but fresh fruits and raw vegetables.
It is clean and the atmosphere is welcoming to anyone who walks in our doors.
It isn’t only a grocery store. It’s also a hardware store. All kinds of tools hang on the wall. We also sell toys, plumbing parts and home décor.
You can also drive up to the pumps and fill your vehicle with gas. So, it’s not only a grocery store, but a convenience store in the small town of South Heart.
Fran Praus
Roughrider Electric Cooperative
UPCOMING READER REPLY QUESTIONS
April: What is the most difficult or best aspect about aging in North Dakota?
Deadline for submission: March 12
May: Do you have a Memorial Day tradition?
Deadline for submission: April 10
Published replies pay $25. Email to ndliving@ndarec.com or mail to READER REPLY, North Dakota Living, P.O. Box 727, Mandan, ND 58554-0727.
