Ron's IGA to close after 45 years

For 45 years, the family of Valley Falls grocer Robert “Bob” Coleman has had a presence in Holton, providing “good service and quality products” at reasonable prices, according to Coleman’s grandson, Scott.

Over the years, however, Scott Coleman, owner and manager of Ron’s IGA on U.S. Highway 75 in Holton, said he has noticed a tendency from larger grocery and discount stores to come to smaller cities and provide competition that smaller, family-owned grocery stores can’t compete with.

“Look at Hiawatha. They had three grocery stores, and now, there’s none,” he said. “And even in Topeka, where they had Dibble’s and Harry’s and Falley’s and Food4Less and Russ’s… There used to be 40 stores, and now they’re all chain stores.”

With encroaching competition in Holton, Coleman said he has had to make the hard decision of closing Ron’s IGA for good at the end of this month and bringing his family’s tradition of “good service and quality products” to a close.

“When that didn’t seem to be enough, obviously, it would be time to quit,” Coleman said. “We’re not able to grow our sales, and the sales we have now are suffering, so that must not be enough. And with more competition coming in, it’s just impossible for me to reinvest a bunch of money in the store.”

The Coleman family story began in 1942 with Bob Coleman’s purchase of a grocery store in Valley Falls. He would go on to build a new store there, then come to Holton in 1961 and build a new store, located at the intersection of U.S. 75 and Fifth Street.

For the first decade or so, the Holton building was leased to Milgram Food Stores of Kansas City, but in 1971, the Coleman family took over the property. Coleman’s two sons, Tom and Ron, took over management of the two family-owned stores — Tom in Valley Falls and Ron in Holton.

In 1972, a year after the opening of Ron’s United Super, Ron Coleman and his family — wife Clarine and three children, including Scott — moved to Holton to be closer to the store. Scott Coleman took over management of the store in 1980 — or thereabouts.

“I don’t think there was ever a time when everybody just sat down and said, ‘OK, you’re running it,’” Scott joked.

In the 1990s, the store came under the banner of the Independent Grocers Association, or IGA. It has operated as Ron’s IGA to this day under Scott’s management, even after its namesake, Ron Coleman, died in 2001.

Through the years, the store has been a “first job” for “probably hundreds” of young people who have left their names on a back wall in the store, Scott said. At present, he added, the store employs 14 people.

Ron’s IGA has also been unique in the area in that it has offered grocery delivery for about 25 years. It has also hosted a dry cleaning service in recent years, which Coleman said eventually is likely to find a new home in the area.

The store has also continued to survive in spite of competition — whether it’s from other local stores or from area residents traveling to Topeka in search of a bargain. Scott said there have been times when he found himself checking out meat prices in Topeka and got a little surprise.

“I’ll look at the ribeye steaks, the K.C. strips or the hamburger, and I’ll think, ‘Holy cow, they’re higher than we are!’” he said, noting that he has always tried to keep his meat prices competitive and reasonable.

But after giving the matter some thought for about three years, Scott said it was time to close the store for good in the face of declining sales and competition that has proven too much to handle. He has also attempted to find someone to take over the store and keep it open, to no avail.

“I don’t plan on dismantling anything right away,” he said. “But if I can’t arrange anything right away, then I figure there will be some sort of an auction. I’d hope to find a tenant or a buyer for the property.”

The store’s last day of business will be Thursday, March 31. For the time being, Coleman is offering a 20-percent discount on grocery, frozen food and general merchandise and 10-percent discounts of meat, dairy, produce, beer and tobacco, and as long as the store is open, there will be fresh supplies of meat, eggs and produce.

After that, he said, he doesn’t have any definite plans for himself, apart from just “taking a day off.”

“I’m not sure what the future holds,” he said. “But I can’t just let this place go clear to the ground.”