Family to open hometown grocery store

Debbie and Bob Schmick, their four sons and their families will open McCook's newest grocery store, Schmick's Market, on Tuesday, Dec. 13. The family includes (from left) Tyler and Brandi, Debbie and Bob, Jason and Andrea, and Cody and Adam. In front are Jason and Andrea's children, Ethan and Makayla. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette) [Click to enlarge]

Publisher

With a combined 62 years in the grocery business, members of the Schmick family are combining their talents as the new owners of Schmick's Market, formerly Sunmart, in McCook.

"This has been our dream for a number of years," said Bob Schmick, who started in the grocery business in 1971 in Bayard, and has since been followed in the business by his four sons: Jason, Tyler, Cody and Adam.

Now, the five Schmicks will all be together in the same market, with Bob serving as meat manager, Jason filling the role of grocery and general merchandise manager, Tyler directing the bakery and deli operation, Cody supervising the produce department and Adam managing the dairy department. The boys' mother and Bob's wife, Debbie, will also be involved, serving as the store's bookkeeper.

The family officially will open their store, appropriately known as Schmick's Market, at 7 a.m. Tuesday. From the start, the Schmicks' customers will see changes.

"Our emphasis will be on friendliness and service," Jason said. "We are dedicated to making this a local market in every sense of the word. We are bringing back carryout service and we will be doing deliveries for the convenience of elderly and disabled customers."

There also will be noticeable changes in the meat department and the bakery and deli. The southwest corner of the 35,000-square-foot store is being remodeled into a fresh meat department, giving customers face-to-face contact with the butcher. "That way," Bob said, "customers can let us know their personal preferences."

Similar customer-friendly changes are coming in the bakery and deli, with daily specials and artisan breads among Tyler's plans for the department.

Tyler and his wife, Brandi, left the Washington D.C. area to return to Nebraska for the family's grocery venture. "It's good to be back with family in my home state," he said.

Jason and his wife, Andrea, and their children were the first members of the Schmick family to live in McCook. They came here in 2002 when Jason became the Sunmart manager. He worked for the railroad briefly, before returning to the store in anticipation of the purchase.

Cody, the produce manager, is coming to McCook from Crete, and Adam, the dairy manager, is moving here from Lincoln.

Schmick's Market is the third owner of the supermarket location in the Westview Plaza. The store was originated by U-Save Foods in the early 1980s, and was sold to Sunmart in the late 1990s. After the purchase by the parent company, Nash Finch, the Hinky Dinky store on West B was merged into the larger Sunmart location in Westview Plaza.

The new owners are thrilled with their opportunity. "We're happy to bring local ownership to McCook," the Schmicks said.

"We're looking forward to providing the community with the Schmicks' special blend of friendliness and service."