The Neighborhood Grocery Store
Back in the mid 20s, Jack and Marvin McKibbon [my grandfather's two older brothers] had settled down in Gainesville, Georgia after the great war. Feeling the city would be a better place if it had its very own self-service grocery store, they opened a Piggly Wiggly Franchise.
It was a small but impactful beginning for the McKibbon name; one that Jack McKibbon decided to build on 20 years later by developing Gainsville's first motor court, complete with a full-service restaurant; this idea spurred his company’s evolution and it's hasn't stopped moving forward since...
By the 1960s, the company had become one of the earliest Holiday Inn franchisees, with hotels in operation throughout the state of Georgia. Today, they resonate throughout the southeast United States as a leading Hospitality Management Company.
But today, we're exploring how the the old-time grocery stores have changed and evolved since the brother's golden age.
Anyone who grew up in the 70s can tick off the long list of past owners at their neighborhood grocery store. There was a guy named George, who knew everyone and everything in the neighborhood. There was the Monzella family, whose business suffered because of construction on Route 3. There was Bob something or the other, who brought in the Italian ices beloved by the Rivera daughters. And, there was Matt Gallo, who eventually closed the store last summer.
We would kind of use it as our second pantry. You get halfway through your King Cake recipe, and you realize you don’t have butter. The store seems to have changed hands countless times since the 70s. But this time, its been vacant for nearly a year. The property sold in December, but the new owner declined to comment on her plans. So, the Rivera's and other regulars drive to Cumberland Farms or another grocery store for their last-minute shopping; it’s not as much fun when you have to hop in the car!
The median square footage of supermarkets has grown by more than 30 percent in two decades, according to the Food Marketing Institute. The average grocery store has more than 42,000 items inside. In 2015, more than 38,000 supermarkets reported at least two million in sales. In the meantime, neighborhood grocery stores are more scarce than ever and their owners are now a rarity.
Dunbar's grandparents –?Ed and Thelma Heath –?started a meat market at the corner of Dartmouth and Beal Streets in 1977. Her father, Tony Heath, moved their corner market across the river to East Street in the 1990s. Dunbar didn’t start working at the market full time until 2012, when he left a career in the hospitality industry, but he wasn't a rookie and had already made more kabobs than anyone in town excluding his dad.?
Duncan’s 22-year-old daughter, Juli, has vowed to be the fourth generation to run the market. That knowledge has made Tony Heath more relaxed about its future.
“One day this is going to be yours,’ Tony says,” Dunbar replies. “ ‘I know Grandpa.”
But that streak comes with sacrifice.?
When their two sons were small, the Bashios family used to take an annual vacation. Robyn insisted on the tradition when she noticed her younger son drew stick-figure families with only three members: two boys and whichever parent wasn’t working. Other than Christmas and Thanksgiving, those seven days were the only occasion to close the store. But the trips stopped when the recession started. “There was no way to close for a week and recover.?
Now, the Bashios sons don’t want to inherit their parents’ grocery story. A recent college graduate, Christian?has never worked the register at the market, and he doesn’t want to.?“They work almost every day of the year,” he said of his parents.?
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When John Vaslac took over the vacant Wilmar Ordway’s Market on South State Street, he decided to give it his own name. In the seven years since, Cimo’s South End Deli has also found its own specialty. “This place would not be able to make it without the deli,” John would tell you. “You have to change with the times.”?
Independent and family-owned grocery stores usually stock canned goods, milk, beer and other conveniences. They know the box stores are often cheaper, but they keep a small backstock?on hand for emergencies and?last-minute errands. Often, they buy directly?from a grocery store rather than paying for delivery from a wholesaler.?
“If you want a convenience store for one time a year, you’ve got to frequent it 10 times a year so it stays open. To really compete with chain stores, however, these?markets have each carved out their own identity, usually in prepared foods.?From hand-cut meat to deli sandwiches to homemade?spanakopita, those items are now the lifeblood of the business.?
“He’s a regular for his feta cheese,” Robyn Bashios said, with a nod to the customer at the register with her husband. A sign on the wall reads: “The Greeks invented everything.”?
For the Bashios family, Greek heritage inspired their menu. For the Hoang family at Good Food Basket, it was Vietnamese. Bao Haong whose American name is Helen, opened the market 12 years ago with her husband. In the back, she made traditional dishes.
As neighborhoods become?more diverse, so do their markets. Karma Gonpo, started the Katmandu Bazaar on Loudon Road in 2014, because stores weren’t selling the products Asian and African refugees in the area wanted. Now, his shelves are stocked with sichuan pepper and chutneys, mustard greens and mangos.
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