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Value-Added Sustainable Development Center

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Small Town Grocery Store Links


Rural Grocery Store Start-Up and Operations Guide

The IIRA Rural Grocery Store Start-Up and Operations Guide is a resource for Illinois entrepreneurs and community leaders interested in starting up, expanding, or transitioning a grocery store in their small town. The 2014 edition includes three new supplements covering cooperative grocery stores, business succession issues, and indoor farmers markets.

Download the guide

  • Rural Grocery Store Start-Up and Operations Guide
  • Supplementary guides:
    • Business Succession: Keeping Grocery Stores Alive
    • The Cooperative Model of Grocery Store Ownership
    • The Indoor Farmers Market: Evolution of a Local Food Sales Model

Resources for Small Town Grocery Stores

  • Kansas State University Rural Grocery Initiative
    • Rural Grocery Challenges & Best Practices
  • University of Minnesota rural grocery store resources
  • Saving the Small Town Grocery Store – Center for Rural Affairs
  • National Grocers Association
  • National Cooperative Grocers Association
  • Cooperative Grocer Network

 


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News

  • WIU’s IIRA Program Helping Bring Grocery Store to Cairo Illinois
  • Partnership and perseverance end food desert in Illinois’ southernmost city
  • Pritzker initiative to provide $20 million for struggling independent groceries
  • New grocery store set to open in Cairo, Illinois, ending food desert and boosting local economy
  • Farmer City, IL hasn’t had a grocery store in seven years. Local citizens want that to change.

Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
Western Illinois University
518 Stipes Hall • 1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455

Email: iira@wiu.edu

Phone: (309)298-2237

Fax: (309)298-2142

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