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Elizabeth Pratt, executive director of Cornerstone Community
Wellness, said the nonprofit decided to buy the store after
hearing that John Winger was retiring and closing the store his
family had run for 82 years.
While reevaluating its goals post-COVID-19, Cornerstone learned
the supermarket was in jeopardy and reached out to Winger,
beginning conversations that would lead to the purchase of the
store.
“If the grocery store went away, it would be a lot harder to
achieve health goals within the community,” Pratt told The
Center Square.
This is particularly so for the vulnerable and aging population,
Pratt said, explaining the nearest grocery would be 15 miles
away.
“Really, we wanted to make fresh produce easily available to
those who might not be able to leave town for whatever reason,”
she said.
Community donations poured in, some $532,000, and they’re still
counting.
“We’ve been really well received by the community,” she said.
Once the purchase price is fully met, a goal residents can
monitor on the nonprofit’s website, Cornerstone anticipates that
the store will run without subsidies. Some of the Royal
Supermarket staff are on the job to take care of business, and
new employees as well.
Almost as heartwarming as knowing the community is being
well-fed is how the supermarket is bringing people together in
the aisles for some neighborly association, Pratt said.
“It’s really nice to see a lot of familiar faces from the
community,” Pratt said. “It’s also nice to see a lot of folks
who we don’t know who live in small towns around us.”
Besides financial milestones, the store has overcome challenges
in other ways.
“It was a challenge for me personally to try to learn retail and
the grocery industry with a nursing background,” Pratt said, who
thanks a team that included the Illinois Institute for Rural
Affairs.
“I tried to seek others who knew a lot more than me,” Pratt
said. “That’s kind of the key to life, isn’t it?”
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