When Red’s IGA left Houston in the fall of 1998, Houston was left without a grocery store for two years. What a change from the five grocery stores in Houston in the 1950s! Sorely missing a grocery store, a group of community members got together and started a cooperative in an effort to bring a store back to Houston.
In 1999, Larry Connery, Peter Denzer, Sharon Onsgard, Anne Mark, Doris Henderson, Chris Cox and Tom Witt became the first board of directors for the cooperative. The group had no funds; by forming a cooperative, they worked collaboratively and involved the community. Shares were sold for $100 a share with any profits to be divided at year’s end each year.
The group found a building that was vacant and issued notes up to $1,000 which would pay interest to get funding for the startup inventory and equipment. A lot of people forgave the notes, satisfied with just having a local grocery store. At this time, all notes have come due.
Before they took the step to form a co-op, they had unsuccessfully tried to get another established store to come to town.
While there have been no profits to share with members at year’s end, members do get to take advantage of Members’ Monday. On Mondays, members receive 5% off any purchases of $50 or more and 10% off any $100 or over.
At one time, Witt’s Pharmacy ran a pharmacy in Root River market; Rushford State Bank also had a branch located within the store for a while.
Assistant Manager Denise Geiwitz currently takes care of ordering and pricing at Root River Market. Rick Bartz volunteers his time to do the bookkeeping for the store.
Madison-based Certco supplies much of the merchandise. Certco also supplies Woodman’s in La Crosse. Root River Market has a bakery which sells a lot of buns for fall church suppers and other private parties. It also brings in other bakery goods from Linda’s Bakery located in West Salem on Tuesdays and Fridays. Larry Connery commented, “People love it!”
At one time the store had a deli, but it didn’t have enough help to run the deli. A butcher comes in several times a week to cut meat. The store has a Cryovac machine which vacuum seals meats. Customers appreciate the vacuum seals, especially when they freeze their purchases. Root River slices its own meat and prepares all the meat for the Legion Meat Raffle.
Other local products include Carlson Coffee, Frickson’s Meats, lefse chips from Tiger Trail, honey from B&B, eggs from local farms and organic produce from Owl Bluff Farm. The Owl Bluff Farm produce usually disappears first from the coolers.
Root River also does business locally – Rushford State Bank is their bank; Bluff Country Financial is their accountant.
At this time, they have no special lunch offerings, but may revisit the idea in the future.
Root River carries a wide selection of groceries; they also sell rotisserie chicken. Root River is very responsive to customers’ requests. According to Larry Connery, “They will make an extra effort to find something for their customers.”
Delivery is available to Heritage Court as well as local shut-ins. Staff help customers carry their groceries to their cars. The store’s 14 employees keep the store open from 8 to 8 weekdays and Saturdays and from 8-6 on Sundays.
Customers come from La Crosse, La Crescent, Caledonia and Rushford areas, but most are from Houston. Many customers come from both Money Creek and Beaver Creek Campgrounds.
No cigarettes or alcohol are sold at Root River; as a result, it’s a great place for first-time jobs for youths in the community. This helps students as they transition from school to the workforce. Geiwitz shared that the kids learn a lot about how to deal with people at their jobs there; while they may come in quiet, they usually leave feeling very comfortable chatting with customers.
Root River has been and continues to be very conscious of energy conservation and improvements. When they started the store, they were able to retrofit some aging open freezers by installing doors and converting them into coolers. This saved the fledgling store a lot of money.
The store is now working with the Houston County EDA on a low interest loan to replace a freezer. The current freezer was over 40 years old when Root River Market was established. Approval of the Houston County Commissioners is the next step in the process.
Membership in the cooperative is open to the public at the original cost of $100. You do not need to be a resident of Houston to join. Currently there are members from Caledonia, La Crescent, Rushford and even Colorado (A hunter who hunts locally has purchased a membership.) as well as Houston. Board members are chosen at the annual meeting.
When the board was asked what businesses would complement the store, the consensus was that they’d love to see a good family restaurant that serves breakfast.
Larry Connery quoted the store philosophy, “Local involvement keeps the store open!” This community involvement results in employees knowing the customers well. Rae Evenson pointed out that the store allows bell ringing for the Salvation Army at Christmas time. Mary Dahle, who recently moved back to Houston and joined the co-op, pulls weeds in front of the store.
Everyone works to keep their grocery store in town. Board Chair Shelley Jervis declared, “The community keeps us open!” In this case, it looks like the Root River Market will be open for a long time to come!
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