By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
LA CROSSE — For eight months, folks in the La Crosse area have been hungry to have a local grocery store. On Wednesday, the stretch of having no grocery store will end as B’s Hometown Market will open at 518 Main Street. The Rush County Grocery was seized by the state for nonpayment of taxes last August.
RELATED STORY: State forces closure of Rush County's only grocery store
With new owners, the past few months have been spent remodeling the
building with new flooring, coolers, paint, electrical work, computer system
and a new meat market. Pat and Kelly Baalmann purchased the store, and Pat said
the grand reopening of the store Wednesday will begin at 10 a.m. with a ribbon
cutting.
"I don't even know how to explain it," said Pat
Baalmann. "We have a lot of emotions, excitement and nerves. But we're
there. It's a big storeroom."
Pat Baalman worked at the grocery store in La Crosse when he was in high school for three years. With a slight understanding already of how the grocery store operated, Pat set out to learn about ordering and the computer work. Through conversations with suppliers like Affiliated Foods, Pepsi and Frito-Lay and attending food shows, the Baalmans have received help to make a small-town grocery store successful.
RELATED STORY: Local couple to reopen grocery store in La Crosse
"We are going to do a lot of homemade stuff with our meat market," said
Baalmann. "We'll have brats, burgers and breakfast sausage. Homemade
stuff we want to do here in-store to have that fresh feel. We'll have a
meat and cheese display, and we'll cut it as we need it."
B’s Hometown Market will consist of a staff with six fulltime employees, seven or eight part-time workers and Pat’s wife and two children will also help out. Hours of operation will be 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday - Saturday and 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Sunday.
When the grocery store closed last August, it was the first time Rush County was without a grocery store in 140 years.
