Local Duckwall store to remain open
Local businesses need support to keep doors open
Staff reporter
The good news is Duckwall Variety Store in Marion and ALCO Discount Store in Hillsboro are not on the current list of stores to close.
The bad news is no store is "safe."
On Thursday, Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. announced 20 stores in nine states were closing, including seven in Kansas.
Among them is the Duckwall store in Cottonwood Falls.
Janie Meierhoff, manager of Duckwall of Marion, said it's always a concern.
"I'm very concerned," said Meierhoff, about maintaining a sufficient profit margin to remain open.
"Customers sometimes are surprised with the variety of items we do carry," she said, and know there are some items she can't offer because of space limitations.
"If there is something a customer would like for us to get, we'll sure try to get it," said Meierhoff.
According to Jim Schoenbeck, senior vice president of store operations, it's a difficult decision to close a store.
"We dislike very much to close stores," Schoenbeck said.
The ongoing competition between the smaller chain and giant retailers like Wal-Mart has seen people taking their shopping dollars out of their communities.
"Shopping at home is the only means for our smaller stores to survive," Schoenbeck said.
The decision to close the stores was based on deteriorating sales and profit losses that resulted in the stores not meeting the necessary company guidelines.
The reduction in profit did not happen overnight.
"We looked at multi-year patterns of the stores," Schoenbeck explained. Plain and simple — stores that do not make an adequate profit will be closed.
"I love my job and I love my town," said Meierhoff. "Hopefully the Marion community will continue to support their hometown store."
Joe Hampton, manager of ALCO Discount Store of Hillsboro, declined to comment.
Other Kansas stores scheduled to be closed besides the Cottonwood Falls store are located at Caldwell, Cimarron, Concordia, Junction City, Leoti, and Sterling. Four were Duckwall and two were ALCO stores.
The company's home office is located in Abilene. The first store opened in 1901 in Abilene. In 1968, the first ALCO Discount Store opened.
In the late 1980s, the company adopted its current business strategy of opening stores in smaller markets that have no direct competition with other full-line discount stores.
The company operates 177 ALCO stores and 85 Duckwall variety stores in 21 states.
The store in Cottonwood Falls will close in four to six weeks, Schoenbeck said.
