Itta Bena officials are trying to bring a grocery store to town, but where to put it remains a major question.
The Big Star store once located downtown has been closed for about a year. District 1 Alderman Mildred Miller and District 2 Alderman Debra Hudson have been asked to spearhead the effort to land another store.
“It’s really important to the citizens of Itta Bena that we get a grocery store,” Miller said. “Sometimes it costs too much for people to get their groceries from out of town.”
At a meeting of the aldermen Tuesday, Mayor Walter Parker said the lack of a store is largely due to the asking price for the building.
“I’m glad to say that I have received at least three phone calls inquiring about that very building downtown,” Parker said. “The problem is the price range that the owner is asking for the building. The callers have concurred that the price is too high.”
Parker said based on what he has seen, putting in a new store at the Big Star site would probably take as much money as building a new store from the ground up or nearly so.
Joan Woody of Greenwood said she was anxious to sell the building and realized no one had been using it for some time. She said she’s not sure where the asking prices Parker mentioned are coming from.
“I’m willing to work with anybody,” she said. “I haven’t been receiving any calls about purchasing the building. I’ve been sick.”
Parker said later that in discussions in with Woody a few months ago, she did not produce an exact quote but did mention a price range in excess of $190,000.
“She said she was interested in getting rid of it,” Parker said. “But my feeling is the price is going to have to be reduced for it to sell.”
Miller and Hudson said at the meeting that they were working closely with John Greer, former executive director of the Mississippi Delta Empowerment Zone Alliance. They said Greer would report the results of his findings at the board’s August meeting.
“He has been looking at what grants and other funding he can find, and he seems optimistic about the project,” Miller said.
Alderman Elmus Stockstill said he looks forward to working with Greer, but he also brought forth information to use as a “plan B” or to further help Greer in his planning. He recently attended an elected officials conference and learned about a rural business enterprise grant.
“It is designed to update rural communities through infrastructure, business, acquisition and development of land or whatever,” Stockstill said. “What they are asking for for that store right now is kind of extreme. So we have to start thinking about the option to build a building.”
• Contact Taylor Kuykendall at tkuykendall@gwcommonwealth.com.
