Another rural grocer down: St. John’s Food City closes its doors

St. John’s Front Street lost an institution last week, as the Food City market shut its doors last week.

Long-time owner Bob Thompson said operation expenses had risen to the point that he could no longer cover the bills.

“Basically, with the way this economy is going, there was just no way we could get enough business to pay for the overhead,” said Thompson.

The Thompson family marked its 24th year of ownership of the market March 1. Prior to the Thompsons, the Freeman brothers, Ted and Joe, owned the marketplace for nearly 40 years.

“I’m sorry to see it have to go, but it just got too expensive,” said Thompson.

In addition to groceries, Food City rented freezer space where individuals could store butchered meat.

Those old freezers needed a lot of electricity, something which became more and more costly over time.

“Our power bill just kept going up and up every time they went for another raise in the rates,” said Thompson.

St. John, unlike other small towns in the county, does not face a no grocery mode, because Webb’s Empire Foods remain on Front Street.

“That was the sad thing to see go,” said Thompson. “Me and Mike Webb (proprietor of the other store), we were always proud to say we have two grocery stores in a town of five, six-hundred people.”

Garfield and LaCrosse now lack grocers. The grocery store at Rosalia returned to operation after a shutdown there.

Garfield residents can get a selection of grocery staples at Smokin’ Papa’s restaurant. LaCrosse residents are currently trying to return a grocer to their town. The Dusty Country Store and the Pastime Tavern have added to their stock to try to cover the gap.

Thompson said his family should fare well without the business. He drives bus for the St. John school and works part-time for the post office.