I’ve written a bit about the search for a grocery in Whitewater, but admittedly it has not been a principal topic for me.
That’s not because I don’t think a grocery or co-op would be nice to have; it’s because I know it’s hard to sustain one. Retail grocers (independent ones most notably) operate under demanding, difficult market conditions.
It doesn’t matter how much some residents now want a grocery – it’s not easy to attract one. Sentry’s owners, after all, tried for years to find a buyer. What matters is whether sufficient numbers of residents can be expected to patronize regularly a grocery. Not enough did so previously.
I’m surely no booster of local government, and I’d surely rather not see public money for a grocery, but it’s wildly mistaken for some to contend that this should have happened by now, as though with a snap of one’s fingers. The expectation & implication that this should have been wrapped up already is, to put it mildly, misguided.
It’s significantly harder to attract or run a grocery than it is to fill one’s cart while walking down the aisles.
Wise decision. There’s no reason for you to make this one of your top issues. You are better off addressing it the way you are. Listing all the places a grocery might be isn’t a guarantee of anything. Talk about not getting it. Anyone who has run a business knows that it’s not so simple.
The patient approach advocated here is 100% correct. The news from today (Tuesday the 26th) confirms it. Demanding a grocery won’t get one. Good job seeing the issue clearly.