(Editor’s Note: This letter was sent by Paul White to Duckwall-ALCO Stores main office in Abilene after he heard the Marion Duckwall store was closing.)

To the editor:

I just heard about the pending closing of the Duckwall stores. I live in Marion, a small town in east central Kansas with a Duckwall store. We shop this store frequently as well as the ALCO store in Hillsboro, about 10 miles west of Marion. 

 Closing the Duckwall in Marion will have a devastating effect on the town. The town will end up losing a lot more than just the Duckwall business. I am very upset with ALCO over this action. 

There are several Wal-Mart stores within 35 to 45 miles of Marion in McPherson, El Dorado, Salina, and Emporia. If the closing of the Marion store does happen, I will no longer shop any ALCO store but instead will go to Wal-Mart. They are not that much farther and the savings will justify the extra distance.

I will also encourage other Marion residents to do the same thing.

I am not a city official but just a retired resident of the community. This is not a good decision. Small towns are pressed for survival and this is just another nail in their coffins. As residents migrate out of small towns, they will move to larger towns with more and better shopping than ALCO can offer. If Marion population declines, the Hillsboro store will also decline. This will happen across your system and in the end, you will fail. 

 Your stores, including Duckwall, are very good and I find them to be competitive with others, especially with the extra driving distance to get to them. You need to find ways to keep the business in these small towns and help them grow. This will help your stores overall as the people will shop them instead of driving out of town to Wal-Mart.

 I strongly encourage you to reconsider this decision.

Paul White
Marion