14 Broadcaster Press June 26, 2012 www.broadcasteronline.com Gregg and Nikki Peters, owners of Jones’ Food Center, announced Tuesday that after 17 years, they will close their grocery store early next month. The couple plans to expand Jones’ Ace Hardware in the building currently housing the food market. (Photo by David Lias) Jones’ Food Center closing By David Lias david.lias@plaintalk.net In what Operations Manager Bob Starr terms as an effort to “refocus,” Gregg and Nikki Peters have decided to close Jones’ Food Center in Vermillion. In its place will be a much larger Jones’ Ace Hardware. “It is a refocusing,” Starr said. “The first three years competing against a WalMart, we did very well. In a town the size of Vermillion, to be able to sustain and grow the first three years against a formidable player such as Wal-Mart, and having another big store with Hy-Vee in town is certainly admirable, but the last three years, once the economy turned (downward), it became increasingly difficult.” For a good portion of the time Jones’ Food Center was open in Vermillion, its only competitor in town was Hy-Vee. The addition of Wal-Mart to the city in 2006 with its food store gave local people a third option for grocery shopping. For most of its 17 years in Vermillion, Starr said, Jones’ Food Center was able to fill a unique niche. “Ultimately, when the economy really turned here about three years ago … we started to lose some of those customers (to Hy-Vee and WalMart),” he said, “even though we believe we have the finest meat in South Dakota, we have a great selection of natural and organic foods – things they don’t carry. We would put up our quality against anybody’s on any given day. “But the fact of the matter is, those guys are in business and they are very good at what they do,” Starr said, “and it has just become tougher and tougher for a family business to compete against the likes of the Wal-Marts 1994 WILSON GRAIN TRAILER 40 Foot Long, Spring Suspension, New Brakes, Aluminum Wheels 15,500 $ trucktrailerinc.com TRUCK TRAILER SALES & SERVICE, INC. East Hwy. 50, Yankton, SD • 605-665-7952 DEADLINES Classified Ads: Friday at Noon and the Hy-Vees in the world.” Starr said the decision to close the food store did not come easily to Gregg and Nikki. “When Ace Hardware came to us and approached us with this idea, it was something we looked long and hard at,” he said. “It’s been over a year now that we’ve really contemplated it, and it’s an offer that we can’t refuse and it brings something to Vermillion that is sorely lacking right now. It really is a win-win deal for everybody, as difficult as it is to lose the grocery side of the business.” An inventory reduction sale begins at Jones’ Food Center on Wednesday, June 20, and is expected to last three weeks. “Our goal is to be done, with the doors closed for business on the grocery side by July 10 at the latest,” Starr said. The lot that houses Jones' Food Center has been a place of growth for most of the time that the Peterses’ store has occupied the main building in the past 17 years. That building houses a branch of Wells Fargo Bank on its south side. On its north side is Mister Smith’s Bakery, Café and Catering, which has grown in popularity over the years thanks, in part, to the bread-baking skills of Larry Smith. The Peterses added a new wing to the building in 2000 that currently houses Jones’ Ace Hardware and Vermillion’s municipal liquor store, which the couple manages. Wells Fargo will remain at its current location, and Mister Smith’s also is not going away – it will, in fact, be renovated, and the dining area may be even be expanded. “One thing that the Targets and the Ikeas of the world has taught us is that you can operate a good, high quality eatery in the middle of a general merchandise store,” Starr said. “If you do it right, it can be very successful. We’ve done a very good job with it, and we can do better job with it.” The space currently occupied by Jones’ Ace Hardware will be vacated once the larger hardware store is located in the building space now housing Jones’ Foods. “Mr. Smith’s Bakery, Café and Catering will stay open throughout the construction phase; Wells Fargo will be open also,” Starr said. “Ace Hardware obviously will be open.” Once the grocery business closes next month, the portion of the building where it is currently housed will be partitioned off from the other existing businesses in that structure. “That will be so that we can come in and start tearing down walls, ripping up the floors – we are essentially going to gut this building,” Starr said. “When you step into this thing once it reopens, you will not have any idea that a grocery store once occupied the space.” It is hoped that the new, improved and larger Jones’ Ace Hardware will be open by mid-September or early October. “It is a very aggressive schedule,” Starr said. “Whether or not we are able to hit that – we’ll have to see what contractors are available.” Jones’ Ace Hardware currently operates a small engine repair shop in a building across the alley from the main store. That shop will become part of the new hardware store. Jones’ had also operated a small greenhouse on the south side of the main building for most of the last 17 years. It has not been in use for the last 18 months. “We’re talking about putting a roof on that and using it year-round,” he said. “Then the hardware ? JONES’, Page 15 HOUSEHOLD • ANTIQUES • COLLECTIBLES • MISC. PUBLIC30, 2012 • 10:05 a.m. AUCTION Saturday, June Clay County Fair Grounds • High Street • Vermillion S.D. AUCTIONEER NOTE: Marilyn was an avid collector of primitives, numerous pieces of glassware, along with many very unique items. Please note the starting time of this sale because it will be quite lengthy. Again, the location will be at the 4-H building at the fairgrounds in Vermillion. APPLIANCES • HOUSEHOLD • MISC. Amana washer & dryer Frigidaire chest freezer Sharp microwave Oak cup & saucer racks Collection of cups and saucers 16-place setting dishes (Butterfly Patterns) Snack sets Small Kitchen Appliances: toaster, hand mixers, crockpots, coffee grinder, food chopper, bread machine, etc. Set of 12 dessert dishes (England) Casserole dishes, Corning sets Dehydrator, Pie plates Several sets of dishes, Silverware Kitchen Utensils, Tupperware Microwave dishes, Many tablecloths Bedroom Set-Full bed, dresser & night stand Small secretary French Provincial credenza, chest, night stand, vanity w/tri-view mirror & bench Glider rocker & foot stool Several full & queen bed frames Several chests & night stands Metal wardrobe & shelving Misc rockers & occasional chairs Love Seat, Bookcase Cabinet Several floor, table & hanging lamps Painters easel, paints & supplies Misc pictures & frames Wall decorations Sewing machine in cabinet Bumper pool table Many, many holiday decorations & candles Board games, Puzzles, Books, Crafts Ceramics Items too numerous to mention MISCELLANEOUS Rubbermaid storage unit Park bench, Skil saw-2 1/3hp Assorted hand & electrical tools Pet carriers Many, many misc. items to numerous to mention ANTIQUES • COLLECTABLES Upright Baby Grand Piano, Oak cigar table Ice Box cabinets, (2) Sets of Stack Tables Round tier table, Dining Buffet Milk glass, Crystal & cut glass Doctors instrument chest w/mirror- 4’x5’ Housier cabinet, High chair 6 dining chairs, Piano stool Oak chest, Flat top trunk (2) 3 wheel rattan & wood wheelchairs Oak child’s school chair Hall tree, Books, Typewriter Cabbage slicer, Meat grinders Cast iron pans, Picture frames Doilies, Vintage fabric Avon decanters & bottles (vintage cars) Collection of angels, Wringer washer Coal shovel, Air compressor Misc antique tools Much More! Marilyn J. Siecke Estate, owner Display Ads: Tammi Rohde (712) 540-5251 • Mark Siecke (712) 420-9926 See Pictures on Website Friday at 11AM Chuck Hardie Auction Services www.chuckhardieauctions.com 201 W. Cherry, Vermillion, SD 57069 • 605-624-4429 Chuck Hardie • Seth Steinhoff - Auctioneers 23 W. 2nd St. • Kingsley IA • Clerk: CHAS • Lunch Wagon On Site • 712-378-3232 • 712-540-9990 (cell)