HUMBOLDT ? City Administrator Cole Herder is optimistic about efforts to keep a grocery store in Humboldt. So is Allen County Commission Chairman Jerry Daniels, whose district includes Humboldt.
Closure of Moon?s Hometown Market was announced on Feb. 15.
?I?m committed to keeping a grocery store in Humboldt,? Daniels responded. ?We?re going to have one no matter what. We just have to work out the right partner.?
Daniels talked in terms of funding, recalling, ?We established a precedent,? when the county provided funding for G&W Foods in Iola and the Marmaton Market in Moran.
G&W won a $180,000 grant to help with construction of its store. Then, Marmaton Market was given a $100,000 to help upgrade the former Stub?s Market in Moran. Those funding vehicles were made possible by substantial budget reserves generated by a 40 percent increase in the county?s assessed valuation when Enbridge built a pipeline and pumping station in the county.
Before any county funding is considered, a well-conceived business plan will have to be in place.
A helpful aside is that Moon?s building and land was recently purchased by Monarch Cement Company.
?We?re willing to work with anyone, to have them buy or lease the building,? said Walter Wulf Jr., Monarch CEO. ?Cole (Herder) is the point man and we?ll consider anything he brings to us.?
Mike Moon, who also announced closure of a second store in La Cygne, population a smidgen over 1,100, had been up against it for several months. Inventory noticeably had diminished at the Humboldt store, and mechanical problems had beset refrigeration units.
Moon accused several things leading up to the store?s failure, including Walmart, online shopping, Dollar General being just a stone?s throw from the grocery, and G&W in Iola.
Monarch?s purchase of the store was an effort to save it from closing.
When the transaction occurred in late December, Wulf said: ?A grocery store is important to any small town?s sustainability.?
The lifeline failed to find traction.
Peggy Strong, with hands on their shoulders, talks with two residents of Arrowood Lanes assisted living facility, Brenda Hopper and Jerry Freeman, who relished visits to Moon?s Hometown Market.
PEGGY STRONG, administrator at Arrowood Lane for the last 19 years, quickly began making adjustments when she learned of Moon?s closing.
Strong said many of her 21 residents were in the habit of filling their in-room refrigerators during shopping trips to Moon?s. They also cherished periodic visits as a social excursions.
?I like to get out and stretch my legs,? resident Jerry Freeman said. ?Looking at walls all day long gets old,? and even a short trip to the store was refreshing.
