Where does that leave Whitewater’s chances at a grocery?
By Ryan Spoehr
Editor
An area Sentry Foods store is preparing to close its doors for good less than two years after Whitewater lost its Sentry store.
A liquidation sale sign went up in front of the Sentry store at 801 N. Wisconsin Street last week as well as a banner on the front window, thus marking the beginning of the end of a business that has been in Elkhorn for several decades.
Jon Curry, who owns the Sentry business in Elkhorn confirmed late last week the business will closing, in a span of less than two years after he purchased it from Tyler Daniels late in 2015.
In April, after a for-sale sign appeared on the property, Curry said he had no plans at that time or in the near future to sell or close his business, stating the building was for sale.
But since that time, shelves have progressively become increasingly bare, as the amount of product available has continually lessened. Recently, several of the business’ freezers were no longer in use, frozen products were not being sold, and the cooler items in the deli were no longer sold.
Whitewater’s Sentry, which was also owned by the Daniels family, closed its doors in 2015.
Since then, there have been efforts, both by the city and a grassroots organization that started up earlier this year, to get a grocer into Whitewater.
The grassroots organization, Whitewater Grocery Co., has been researching and discussing the potential of a grocer in the city.
“The conversations in Whitewater were more about how mid-level chains are finding it difficult to compete in today’s economy and are leaving small towns,” said Lacey Reichwald, a member of Whitewater Grocery Co. “People, who are able, are willing to drive to a grocery store, which is why the big stores can command a much larger geographic area. However, there is still a big push for convenience and supporting local, and that is what we are trying to fulfill.”
Whitewater Grocery Co. is about to start its first market study, which will reveal more about the number of shoppers that a store in Whitewater could attract from local cities. Reichwald said the study will also focus on how many shoppers the store could attract from communities near Whitewater.
However, other information will be a part of the market study, Reichwald said.
“This new store closure will definitely be something we discuss with our research consultant to include in the market study,” Reichwald said.
People may sign up to be an owner of the prospective grocery, and Reichwald said the organization has signed up several owners not just from Whitewater, but from nearby communities like Palmyra and La Grange as well.
Curry’s purchase in 2015 ended the 18-year involvement of the Daniels family in the Elkhorn Sentry business that spanned 18 years. Shortly after, Curry purchased the Lake Mills Sentry from Brian Conrad, who had owned that store for 40 years.
Terry Daniels bought the Elkhorn store in 1997, according to the Daniels Foods website. Later on, ownership was transferred to Tyler Daniels prior to the business being sold to Curry.
Curry declined to comment for this story. A projected date on the closure of the Elkhorn Sentry is not known at this time.
The Sentry closure will leave Elkhorn with just one grocery store, Frank’s Piggly Wiggly, adjacent to Highway 67 south of where Highway 12 splits and veers toward the Illinois state line.
Other than Walmart in Whitewater and Jefferson, grocery choices for locals nearby may include Festival Foods in Fort Atkinson and Jim & Judy’s in Palmyra.
The Elkhorn Sentry is the second area Sentry store to close within a two-year span. In 2015, the Whitewater Sentry closed its doors, leaving that community without a grocery store other than the Walmart that stands next to the old Sentry store.
