Grocery and thrift coming to town soon!

by Marlo Benning
marlo@inhnews.com

The Sebeka DAC has big plans for the vacant grocery store building that sits on main street in Verndale that they purchased on January 12. Not only will you be able to purchase groceries within city limits once again, but they are also planning to utilize the space as a partial thrift store as well.
This is the first such venture that the DAC has pursued in the way of groceries, but have experienced success in Sebeka with the thrift store there.
Executive Director Sylvia Silvers said, “We are really excited about it. It’s a big adventure. We hope it will help Verndale and it’s a great opportunity for our clients. Using a scanner is great training for them.”
The first step in getting the ball rolling is to get the appropriate license for the clients to work there through the department of human services. This includes a fire marshal inspection. Once they receive the go ahead from the fire marshal, the next step will be to get clients in the building to begin cleaning and doing various prep work.
Silvers already knows that some of the coolers will need replacement and some work on the flooring must be done, along with some minor painting.
“We’ve got some work to do,” she said.
The next step will be to get a license to be a grocery.
Since they have no idea of a time frame of how long these steps will take, no opening date has been set.
“We are playing it by ear. We don’t want to commit to a date because of this uncertainty.”
Silvers is hopeful that they will be able to price their groceries so that they are affordable.
We need to make enough money to run, but it’s a little different than a family-run business that needs to support a family, she noted.
They will be operating with one full-time employee, a few part-time staff and approximately eight of their clients. They are currently hiring for the part-time help.
Plans are to have the store’s open hours on Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We may adjust as need be once we are opened,” she noted.
Silvers said they are very open to suggestions as to what the community would like them to stock in the way of groceries.
The new store has been dubbed “Verndale Grocery and Treasures, Too”.
If you’d like to give input or make suggestions before the store opens, Silvers can be reached at 218-837-5182.

Photo: The official purchase date of the vacant Verndale grocery store building by the Sebeka DAC was January 12.

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