Town considers cooperative grocery store

STRATTON -- Stratton residents are considering a cooperative to re-open the grocery store closed for three years.

Stratton Area Chamber of Commerce member Bill Zahl told residents gathered at a community meeting recently the project could cost about $155,000.

The community could apply for a $75,000 Community Development Block Grant, he said, which would leave $85,000 to be funded locally.

The cooperative, or corporation, would require one day-to-day manager and direction from a board, according to a news story in the Hitchcock County News.

Zahl said the store could generate about $8,000 a week/$416,000 a year, which should equate to a profit of about $118,000.

The store, fixtures and inventory are owned by StratCom, a group of local investors. Zahl said the group wants to reopen the store by the end of October.

A survey questions whether residents support the reopening and whether they will shop at the store and volunteer to help run it.