Rural Grocery Stores In Rural Communities

If you live in a rural community, you understand that a grocery stores are one of the most vital businesses in a town. A grocery store means more than just access to healthy food. Rural grocery stores also provide jobs and generate tax revenue. Without a local grocery store, that revenue goes to other towns. A local grocery store also helps attract new residents to a town, makes a community a more attractive place to live, and gives the locals a reliable place to shop. Almost every single store in a small town is locally owned and operated. These stores are either bought by different members of the community or passed down from generation to generation and are considered part of the community itself. Although these stores are vital to rural

The prices are much higher in rural communities than in the city because of the distance from distributing companies. The price of fuel is not only driving the transportation costs up, but the cost of goods in general. There is a direct link between the increase of goods and the price of fuel. When the prices of fuel go up, it costs more to transport the food. When a small store has a limited area to display their products, their orders are smaller. Consequently, the truck must deliver without a full load. This is a waste of fuel and the store still must pay for the delivery cost. In order to make it worthwhile for the distributors to drive a few hours away to drop off a load, they have to add on money somewhere to make a profit. These additional fees are what make the small stores suffer. Since the store is now down a few more dollars, they add it onto the prices of their goods to make a

The lack of a grocery store can have a huge impact on the success of a town, as the stores bring in valuable revenue and tax dollars to help the community. The success of many rural grocery stores depends on communication from owners and customers who recognize that grocery stores are a huge part of their community. Rural grocery stores are a dying breed and both local store owners and locals need to come together to uphold the tradition that many of these stores represent. The price increase in the rural grocery stores is driving away valuable customers for these businesses and something needs to be done to try and slow the flow of people to cities. Solutions that the businesses could employ include working with other businesses in their areas, pooling resources to create smaller transportation costs, and buying locally to help lower prices and boost the local