A case study of independent grocers in the U.S. rural Midwest

Grocery stores in rural, small towns serve as critical access points to healthful foods for their community residents. Yet many struggle to stay in business. In this paper, opportunities and strategies are identified for rural grocery stores through a case study of five locally owned stores in the U.S. rural Midwest. Store information, including prices for market basket items, was collected, and a survey of county residents where stores were located was supplemented with county-level information. Findings reiterate the importance of these rural grocery stores and encourage store owners/managers to continue promoting their relative strengths, to review pricing strategies, and to seek ways for differentiation.