MORAN — Here’s the dilemma: Stub’s Market is for sale and there is no assurance that it will remain open. A good share of Moran’s residents are elderly and would find it a burden to travel elsewhere for groceries. The closest full-service groceries are in Iola, a round trip of about 30 miles, and Fort Scott, at least 10 miles farther.
Spur-of-the-moment needs would go unmet.
“If Nelda is baking cookies and she needs eggs, I can run to Stub’s and get a dozen,” Larry Manes mentioned. “Without it, I’d have to drive to Iola,” or pass on fresh-baked cookies.
ON WEDNESDAY, a delegation of Moran and Thrive Allen County folks drove to St. Paul to see what that community did 10 years ago to have a grocery.
“We had had grocery stores, but not for several years,” said City Clerk Jeri Heitman.
In 2007, voters approved a proposal for the St. Paul Community Development Corporation to borrow $400,000 from Heartland Electric, an aside the power company does to help communities it serves.
The loan, co-signed by city council members, paid for construction of the store on land owned by the city. Before the vote, it was impressed on citizens that if the store failed, remaining debt would be on their backs. Moran, population 530, and St. Paul, 610, are of comparable size.
In January 2018, the loan will be paid off and five months later, in June, the store will celebrate its 10th anniversary as the flagship retail enterprise in St. Paul.
At the start, Jay and Jo Renfro, experienced grocers, moved from Altamont to manage and stock the store. They had a personal motive — their grandchildren lived in St. Paul.
When the Renfros decided to retire about four years ago, the city stepped in and purchased their interest and made James and Kelly Voorhies managers in September 2013.
Kelly was a familiar face, having worked at the store since its first day. James, 33, had a grocery pedigree, having started his work experience at a grocery in Fredonia at age 16. He worked for Coca-Cola before taking managerial reins at St. Paul.
The Voorhieses made a few changes to enhance profitability.
“We cut back on inventory, from $150,000 to $100,000,” dropping things that seldom sold, James said.
The Voorhieses also noticed their older customers had trouble reaching items. “We quit stocking the top shelves to keep everything within easy reach,” he said. “The aisles also are wide and don’t have clutter. We listen to people and do what works for them.”
The store features fresh meat cut on site and has a small deli, which on Wednesday had generously loaded French dip sandwiches.
THE MORAN grocery has been a fixture since the mid-1970s.
“We’ve owned it for 21 years,” said David Mahurin, of he and wife Shirlene.
“It’s been for sale for 20 years,” he added with a chuckle. “Really, we’ve had it on the market for better than a year. We had it sold once — we thought — but the guy didn’t make it.”
Mahurin said they had no intention of closing the store, at least not soon, but “we do want to sell it. We have the Erie store (12 years) and we’re getting where we want to slow down. We live out in the bushes by Erie, and I’ve got cattle to take care of. I’ll be 68 in June. We have six grandchildren and it’s time to stay closer to home and play with the grandkids.”
Asking price for the Moran store began at $300,000. Now the Mahurins would take $50,000 less.
“It’s a good little store and I hope the people in Moran can work out something,” he said.
THAT “SOMETHING” may be a cooperative, similar to those in rural areas where farmers go together to own an elevator and accompanying facilities, with members-owners sharing profits.
Yvonne Scott, an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer working for a year as Thrive’s Healthy Food Initiative coordinator, envisions something similar for the Moran grocery, with the mechanics depending on shareholders, including non-residents. Financial consideration may be an upfront investment, periodic dues or a combination of the two. In any approach, commitment will have to be sufficient to purchase the store and have working capital from day one.
If the store finds its way under the wing of Moran investors, Scott said they could benefit from discounts on purchases or a profit-sharing plan — “It will be up to them.”
A grocery is much like a post office, a school or a library in that it provides the glue to keep a small town from becoming a wide spot in the road, said Ben Alexander, Thrive deputy director.
Scott, 66, has the needed experience in building cooperatives. Over the past 40 years she has either been involved as a member of a cooperative or helped to organize ones during stints in Illinois, Albuquerque, N.M., Kentucky, and her hometown of Sylva, N.C.
Scott is familiar with the national Food Cooperative Initiative, and as a Vista volunteer puts herself into the shoes of those she is trying to help. She receives a monthly stipend equal to the poverty level income for where she is working.
Scott volunteered to come to Iola because of Thrive’s reputation and its emphasis on healthy food and healthy living.
Thrive’s Damaris Kunkler and Debbie Bearden, with Allen County Farm Bureau, visited city councils throughout the county to give voice to what members thought were pressing nutritional needs. They encouraged community gardens and farmers’ markets — Iola’s having been in place for several years — to give residents access to healthy, locally grown food.
Scott has given close attention to problems that would arise if Moran were to lose its grocery store. The result, she said, would cause the eastern third of Allen County to become a “food desert,” with only Brown’s in Mildred and the Moran convenience store available for purchases of food, without driving to Iola, Fort Scott or Chanute.
Scott is brimming with confidence and enthusiasm. “We’ll figure how to do it,” she said.
A MEETING at 7 p.m. Monday in Moran’s new fitness center — another local advantage that came courtesy of Thrive — a steering committee will discuss what can be done to ensure continuity of a local grocery.
Yvonne Scott, an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer working for a year as Thrive’s Healthy Food Initiative coordinator, said a future community-wide meeting will give citizens an opportunity to ask what are bound to be many questions.
