Minco Residents Learn to Cope Without Grocery Store

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

MINCO, Oklahoma -- The town of Minco's one and only grocery store burned down two months ago, and now citizens are being forced to find ways to adjust.

The Williams Discount Foods store served not just Minco but also surrounding towns.

"It didn't only provide for the Minco residents. It also provided for Union City, and Pocasset, which is south of us, and the Culver community, which is west of us," said Minco Mayor-Elect Keith McMullen.

With their only grocery store gone, people in Minco have to drive a ways to buy food.

"I go to Beachlers in El Reno or to Homeland in Chickasha," said Minco resident Laverne Hines. "Sometimes I have to do without things."

For senior citizens who can't drive out of town, the First Baptist Church has set up a shuttle service for grocery shopping once a week.

The owners of the grocery store haven't said if they'll rebuild, but residents in Minco fear they won't. Meanwhile, with no grocery store in Minco, the city government has been losing money.
"The fact is, you know, in Minco, we've lost a little over a third actually of our sales tax revenue because of the loss of the grocery store," McMullen said.

The city had to put the police chief's scheduled raise on hold, while the Chamber of Commerce looks for a replacement store.

"We will have a grocery here again. Minco's a great community, a growing community. And so we are in need of a grocery store," said Deana Walje with the Minco Chamber of Commerce.

The city and the Chamber of Commerce are also working to bring other retail businesses to Minco.