A University of Illinois Extension educator has been studying the plight of small-town grocery stores. John Shadowens started looking at the subject five years ago. He says it’s a challenging business model, but he believes there is a future for those type of operations.
“I would say yes, but with one caveat, that the stores that will be successful are going to be the ones that continually adapt to the world that changes.”
Speaking of changes, some unique concepts have gained his attention.
“One of my contemporaries that I’m working with is saying that in Kansas, they’ve got a young couple that is starting a chain of stores that are 24-7 access, but they are completely unmanned except for a few hours a day to restock. Now, that’s a shock – some customers don’t like that. They like seeing the clerk and everything, but to have a profitable store, this chain has decided that their means of profitability will be to save on labor. You still have access, you can still have a membership, you get a key card, you can go in, you pay a nominal fee to belong to that. That might be what more of our local food access starts looking like.”
Shadowens says that independent grocers may also have to adjust if a chain like Dollar General arrives in town.
“If you have a Dollar General, but they don’t carry fresh produce, they don’t carry fresh ground meat, how do we keep that in a community that is struggling with all of these other labor costs? So, radically different models, smaller footprints, cashless, or cash only, there may be some versions where like credit card fees are killing a lot of stores. It’s going to look different, I guess is what I’m trying to say.”
He says he’s seeing more examples of owners accepting change and doing things differently to sustain a long term future.
That’s what makes me hopeful is there are people who are on the adaptability curve. I think they will survive and maybe find a way to thrive. The ones who are still trying to do grocery like they did it 80 years ago are probably not going to have a long game with the landscape in the future.”