DYSART, Iowa (KCRG) - The only grocery store in Dysart is facing closure once again. The owners said the number of shoppers has dropped since they last came to the community for support.Bobby’s Grocery and BBQ is the only grocery store in a nearly 10-mile radius of Dysart in Tama County, Northwest of Cedar Rapids. This summer, the store’s owners asked the community to help raise $75,000 to keep the doors open. They were able to raise the money, but months later, the struggles continued.The shelves had a lot more gro...
DYSART, Iowa (KCRG) - The only grocery store in Dysart is facing closure once again. The owners said the number of shoppers has dropped since they last came to the community for support.
Bobby’s Grocery and BBQ is the only grocery store in a nearly 10-mile radius of Dysart in Tama County, Northwest of Cedar Rapids. This summer, the store’s owners asked the community to help raise $75,000 to keep the doors open. They were able to raise the money, but months later, the struggles continued.
The shelves had a lot more groceries for people to pick from at Bobby’s Grocery and BBQ since earlier this summer when the owner asked the community to support them to keep a grocery store open in Dysart. Still, owner Sara Torres said people have cut down on how much they’re buying.
“People are coming in for little things they’ve forgotten,” said Torres. “So if they run out of eggs or they forget a tomato.”
She said the average customer buys four to six items every time they come to the store and as profits shrink repairs to old equipment continue to pile up.
“A fire started {in the vegetable cooler} and we had to put it out with a fire extinguisher,” said Torres. “Everything that was in the cooler, all the fresh produce, we had to toss out.”
Kansas State University’s Rural Grocery Store Initiative said Bobby’s Grocery and BBQ wasn’t alone.
“This is, unfortunately, a trend that is happening across the country,” said Erica Blair, a Program Director for RGSI.
She said all grocers, in general, face slim profit margins, often less than 1%. Rural grocery stores are also seeing the towns they serve shrink and if the store closes, it affects more than just the store.
People are more and more going out of town to get their groceries,” said Blair. “That means they’re also getting other things out of town. So, instead of frequenting the local hardware, they’re frequenting the hardware store in the next town over.”
Torres said they’ll be able to keep the doors open for at least the next 6 months, but she worried about what might happen if support continues to drop.
“If we don’t shop here, we don’t stay open,” said Torres. “When you run out of milk or hamburger that you forgot to get, we’re not going to be here for you to get those things.”
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