The crowd is slow trickling in at the Potter American Legion Hall as residents of Potter prepare to hear about the fate of their grocery store.

Attendees of the meeting take a moment to talk to friends and family members before finally sitting down and giving their attention to Kirk Enevoldsen.

Enevoldsen, who runs the Potter State Bank, took time to talk to folks before moving to the microphone. Expressing his concerns about the grocery store, Enevoldsen knows this community fights for itself tenaciously. This maybe one fight that will be more difficult.

“I feel like we are fighting for our lives,” the banker says.

Enevoldsen moves to the microphone and begins to tell people why the meeting was called. He says the purpose of the meeting is to get ideas from the community about the grocery store. The town has been without a grocery store since Potter Grocery closed a couple of months ago.

Enevoldsen introduced Chuck Karpf from Mitchell to discuss the advantages of reopening the store as a community cooperative.

Chuck, who works for Panhandle development, is currently involved in helping the town of Mitchell to open a cooperative grocery store. Mitchell, like Potter, lost the store recently.

“If your grocery store closes, your town fades away,” Chuck says.

Chuck says the benefits of cooperative grocery store is that the store is no longer owned by a single person. It is instead ran by a board. The board is elected by the members, and the members are those who frequent the store. Presumably, Potter citizens.

The disadvantages are the same as the advantages, he says.

“Things take longer to decide because the board needs to decide and that takes time,” he says.

Chuck says the co-op operates like a business, therefore, it must make a profit.

“A cooperative is like any business,” says Karpf, “It is for profit, you have to turn a profit.

Karpf explained that a co-op is supported by its members. And, sometimes, stocked by its members. He says that in other co-ops he has talked to, the local produce, and products like eggs, line the shelves.

“Co-ops use local businesses to fill their shelves,” Karpf says.

It is what makes them so versatile.

“A co-op is what you want it to be,” he says.

Co-ops are a community effort, and community owned, he says.

Karpf talks of other ways to reform the grocery store, including LLC (Limited Liability Company) and a corporation.

“LLC’s could work better for those who want to invest in it,” he says.

Karpf briefly explains the downfalls of corporations and private ownership before Enevoldsen opens the meeting up to the floor.

Throughout the course of questions, it came up that the grocery needs to make $30-35,000 a month to be profitable. This figured was announced by Stacy Hermes current owner of the Potter Grocery.

“Grocery stores do a lot of volume, but not much on the bottom line,” Karpf adds to Stacy’s assessment.

Stacie Hermes says just to pay the electric bill, it was $14,000 a year.

But looking past the bills, Hermes says the group needs to consider getting their message out their.

“I will warn people, if you do this, you have to have a marketing group,” she says.

Hermes says that people need to know what the grocery store has to offer and why it is they should shop there.

Karpf, agreeing with Hermes, says that advertising is expensive, but necessary.

“You need to figure out ways to draw people,” Karpf says, “You have to figure out how to communicate your message and draw people to your town.”

After the crowd grew silent, Enevoldsen took a moment to tell people what the Potter Community Development group would be looking for moving forward.

“If the desire is to go co-op, we will be looking for leadership,” Enevoldsen says.

He adds they would need $120,000-$125,000 to restart the store. Currently grants are being applied for to help offset some of the cost.

Karpf reminds people grants are not free. You have to have money to get money, he says.

A member of the audience suggested that younger families become involve in the decision making process. She says that their are younger families concerned with supporting their families and communities and would be interested in helping.

As the meeting winds down, Joe Borla walks to the mic and turns to the crowd. His voice is soft, but he speaks with an air that demands everyones attention.

Joe tells of his wife’s desire to come to Potter more than 20 years ago. He tells of seeing businesses close and the community rallying to reopen them. When facing adversity, this community comes together.

Borla says that is the nature of Potter.

“This community will find a way to get it together and make it work,” Borla says.

At the end of the meeting all those in attendance Enevoldsen asks those in attendance to fill out the survey at the back of the room. He says this will help the committee moving forward.

Anyone interested in helping develop the grocery store should call (308-879-4258