After 42 years, Ed’s IGA Supermarket in Snowflake has made its final sale. Ed and Lapriel Gillespie opened the small hometown market in 1976. Gillespie retired about 10 years ago leaving his son-in-law, Kipp Peterson, to run the day-to-day operations. “We hoped we could overcome it but just couldn’t avoid it,” said Peterson about the closure.
The Small Business Administration estimates that more than half of small businesses survive for five or more years and about one third of them survive more than 10 years. That means that Ed’s did well in terms of longevity but times have changed over that time period.
The hometown grocery store was a place where customers were known by name and where, over the years, many teens had their first job. Competition from big box stores and the Internet have made even the grocery business tough to compete in.
Peterson attributes the closure to the sluggish local economy, the general difficulty of doing business in this day and age, and the addition of Walmart to nearby Taylor. The building is already up for sale and Peterson plans on pursuing other adventures. “I am not ready to retire,” said Peterson.
“We appreciate the relationships we developed over the years and the customers we’ve had over the years. We appreciate them very much,” said Peterson. Closing the store was a tough decision but in the end it was a decision that had to be made. Ed’s was the only grocery store in the Town of Snowflake and leaves quite a void.
