MORAN — Marilyn Logan feels as if she has climbed to the top of an impossible mountain.
Five years ago, it seemed impossible to ask the Moran community to come together to save the town’s grocery store.
They did.
It seemed impossible to hope the Marmaton Market’s leaders could win a competitive national grant to build a commercial kitchen.
They did.
It seemed impossible to struggle through post-COVID supply chain issues and labor shortages to build that kitchen and serve fresh, hot meals to the community.
Now, they are.
The Marmaton Market recently completed construction of its long-awaited kitchen, hired a cook and began selling prepackaged hot meals for lunch, Monday through Friday.
The certified kitchen also will be available to rent so home cooks in the area can make such things as bread, salsa, jams and jellies or other items to sell.
“We finally got it done. It’s been a process,” Logan said on Friday.
“We’re hoping this will put us over the top and make us more sustainable, though it’s always a struggle for a small business.” 
THE KITCHEN is just one part — a key part — to turning around the fortunes of the struggling store.
At a community meeting in September 2021, the store’s board warned it faced closure if conditions didn’t improve. They asked residents to support the store and shop there more often.
Since then, the store’s layout has been redesigned, opening up the space with wider aisles and more appealing displays. Logan and the board applied for numerous grants to add display cases and freezers, including one for meat. They’ve upgraded utilities and equipment to be more energy efficient. They seek customer input for items to stock and work hard to find the right vendors for timely deliveries, though that’s still the biggest challenge.
Their efforts seem to be working.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, but we can see light shining through,” Logan said.
They’re also part of a group of small business owners working with Kansas State University on a feasibility study in hopes of establishing a grocery distribution center in southeast Kansas. The hope is to bring together a group of small grocers to increase their buying power.
Winning the $140,000 grant for the kitchen, though, was one of the best things to happen to the Marmaton Market.
The board applied for a grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Healthy Food Financing Initiative that helps bring food-related retail opportunities to underserved urban and rural communities.
Of the 294 grants submitted, 134 were awarded nationwide. Of those, three made their way to Kansas. The award was announced about a year ago.
