Presentation Title
Hometown Grocery Store: An Experiment in Rural Economics
Keywords
Grocery stores, Community relations, Competition with “big box” chains
Description
Expertise is worth a lot, but there is something to be said for a blank slate/fresh perspective. This is the tale of 2 non-grocery professionals’ adventures and lessons learned from opening a 7,500 sq. ft grocery store in their hometown, Holton, Kansas. Cecil K’s Hometown Market is a local, family-owned grocery store in Holton, Kansas. The store’s namesake is Cecil Kern, great grandfather of Holton-natives and store owners Chad Bontrager and Carly Whorton. As a concept, Cecil K’s was formed in April 2017 and opened February 28, 2018. By partnering with Associated Wholesale Grocers, 3 local meat processing facilities, 10 Direct Store Delivery vendors, and an ever-growing list of local producers and suppliers, Cecil K’s proudly offers a full grocery experience to its hometown community.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if…” Famous last words and the beginning of Chad and Carly’s venture. Within a couple months, keys were in-hand and the future home of Cecil K’s Hometown Market began coming to life. Recognizing the need to create a small-format grocery store that catered to the rural community, Chad and Carly’s vision to offer something different than the only head-to-head “competitor”, Walmart, took form. Though the order was tall, Chad and Carly were eager to provide the community with a second option for their grocery experience.
Chad and Carly each bring a diverse range of experience and abilities, however, their shared grocery experience consists of one year in high school when Carly worked as a cashier at the same store, back when it was Ron’s IGA. With more than a few things to learn, and the benefit of a fresh perspective, they were inspired to implement solutions and ideas that stood apart from “the way things had always been done”.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Hometown Grocery Store: An Experiment in Rural Economics
Expertise is worth a lot, but there is something to be said for a blank slate/fresh perspective. This is the tale of 2 non-grocery professionals’ adventures and lessons learned from opening a 7,500 sq. ft grocery store in their hometown, Holton, Kansas. Cecil K’s Hometown Market is a local, family-owned grocery store in Holton, Kansas. The store’s namesake is Cecil Kern, great grandfather of Holton-natives and store owners Chad Bontrager and Carly Whorton. As a concept, Cecil K’s was formed in April 2017 and opened February 28, 2018. By partnering with Associated Wholesale Grocers, 3 local meat processing facilities, 10 Direct Store Delivery vendors, and an ever-growing list of local producers and suppliers, Cecil K’s proudly offers a full grocery experience to its hometown community.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if…” Famous last words and the beginning of Chad and Carly’s venture. Within a couple months, keys were in-hand and the future home of Cecil K’s Hometown Market began coming to life. Recognizing the need to create a small-format grocery store that catered to the rural community, Chad and Carly’s vision to offer something different than the only head-to-head “competitor”, Walmart, took form. Though the order was tall, Chad and Carly were eager to provide the community with a second option for their grocery experience.
Chad and Carly each bring a diverse range of experience and abilities, however, their shared grocery experience consists of one year in high school when Carly worked as a cashier at the same store, back when it was Ron’s IGA. With more than a few things to learn, and the benefit of a fresh perspective, they were inspired to implement solutions and ideas that stood apart from “the way things had always been done”.
