Small Illinois Town Bands Together to Save Lone Grocery Store

When the owner of this village’s only grocery decided to close shop, some residents feared it would be the first step toward increasingly deserted streets and the slow death of yet another small town.

Determined not to let that happen, a group of residents formed a co-op and bought the store that anchors their block-long business district. Last week, they reopened under the banner “Washburn Community Foods, Your Friendly Hometown Owned Store.”

Investors say the move was as much an effort to preserve the community of 1,100 people as it was to save residents the trouble of a 20-mile round trip to the nearest food store, in Metamora.

“I think it speaks very highly for the commitment of our people,” said Dave Canaday, president of the Washburn Grocery Assn. “If you close the grocery, the rest of the town is going to die.”

State Route 89 runs through downtown, passing by the grocery, a pizza parlor, a cafe, a curio shop, an insurance office and the post office, pretty much the only employers in town. Most people either farm or commute to jobs in the Peoria area, about 30 miles southwest.

Canaday said the idea of buying the grocery was first mentioned in March and the association quickly organized, selling shares for $50. There are currently 344 investors; the rest of the more than $100,000 raised came in the form of low-interest development loans.

The association bought the store and equipment for $90,000 on Nov. 1.

“We got the keys and went to work that night,” said investor Charlie Kennell, a farmer.

Volunteers cleaned and painted the store and rearranged it to maximize floor space. They turned out again when a grocery supply truck arrived on Nov. 4.

“The community totally stocked my store,” said manager Leeann Welsh, who is seven months pregnant. “They priced things and put things on the shelf and unloaded the truck for me.”