SPRINGVILLE – The local staple, Springville Grocery & Deli, is once again up for sale.
The current owners Brent Conner and his wife Alyssa purchased the store, located at 60 Brick Street in Springville, in 2020, taking over operations on Oct. 1, 2020.
The two had always wanted to operate a small business together and saw purchasing Springville Grocery and Deli as the perfect opportunity to make their dreams a reality, according to Brent.
“We say we kind of got lulled into it, because of the slowdown of life with COVID. Something that my wife and I had always talked about was trying to own or operate a small business and life had slowed down. You know, my oldest daughter was home from college because of COVID. Sporting activities and just general events had really slowed down, and I thought, well, we’ve got time to do this. We can take it on,” he said.
Though they are now looking to move on, Brent is thankful for the support of the community of Springville during their time operating the business.
“[Community support] is very important. Small, country stores like that. They’re a dying breed. And the only way that they survive is through the support of the community. And Springville is a very supportive community. They’re very close knit with the store, with the school, with whatever’s going on there in that community. People care about one another, so that makes a big difference,” said Conner. “Community is everything. I think Springville is a unique place. It’s a small community and they’re very supportive.”
The couple purchased the business amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought restrictions that impacted many businesses, both big and small. Though he said they weren’t impacted greatly, Conner said Springville’s locally owned grocery store was no exception.
“I would say it affected business a little bit because we generated a lot of business out of traffic going into Crane and people going into wherever their job is and as more people work from home, you’re losing some of that traffic. So that, you know that had an effect on it,” the owner explained, “You know, other things that had an effect, you know, last spring, sometime in the May time frame, they had a sign up there in Avoca, road closed. It was up that way for two months. That hurts business. But overall, I mean, you just kind of get through those things and then again, people in the community are supportive of it and know you’re there and they’ll stop in.”
Difficulties related to the pandemic though are not the reason for the two looking to sell; neither is the town’s new Dollar General, which recently opened just a bit down the road from Conner’s store at 4190 W State Rd 54, Springville.
Instead, he said the two are simply looking for more time to spend with their families, as running this business along with their other jobs and responsibilities has taken away much of their time to spend with loved ones.
“I mean, look the Dollar General is Dollar General, right? And, we can’t compete with their buying power. But that’s not really what’s affecting this decision. This decision is about life. This decision is about, we have four kids and we’re missing activities, we’re missing things. To be a part of their lives. My in-laws are going to be living with us part of the time, you know, they’re getting older, so we need to support family,” Conner said. “All these different factors. You know, my wife has a job. She works in the school system, and is very active and involved there. I have a full-time job. We’re both still several years from retirement. So it’s not something that we can hang on to until that time.”
Though it can no longer be the Conners, Brent hopes to sell to someone who will keep the business alive in the community.
“It’s very important. I would love, I can’t stress this enough, I would love for somebody local community oriented to jump in and take over the reins and pick it up and do something good with it. If I can choose something that’s exactly what I would want. We want to see good things for the community of Springville. And I think the store is central in that, whether it continues as a little store and deli or whether it switches over to a deli/restaurant or whatever the case may be,” he said.
The business will remain open until further notice, despite the property being listed for sale.
“We see no reason to close. We’re open six days a week now. We open at 4:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and close at 8 p.m. And then on Saturday we opened at 6 a.m. and had closed at 8 p.m. So, you know, we intend to keep those hours as much as possible,” he said.
The property, listed by Christina Root – The Root Team with Hawkins and Root Real Estate, is up for sale for $359,900. Full details can be viewed on their website
Anyone interested in purchasing or inquiring about the property can contact Root over the phone at 812-583-1887 or through the agency’s website.
