Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Hometown Market closes doors; mayor says city needs grocery

Smith's Hometown Market closed on Wednesday afternoon but the future of the store is not known at this time.

Calls to Jason Smith, owner, have not been returned as of press time.

Mayor Clayton Franklin said, "It is a sad day when Gurdon loses its grocery store. I have not been told why it shut down, but I will say it is a shame.

"We've got a need for a grocery here in town, and we need to figure out how we can keep one in the community."

Mayor Franklin said the closing of the grocery store might effect the tax base here, if another grocery store does not take its place. However, he said in the short run much of the sales tax would still come to the city through increases in sales at stores such as Doug's Grocery.

"We do not anticipate a drastic decrease in the tax base because our people have to eat," he said. "I do not anticipate any cutting of city services over lost dollars. There is no way to break down exactly how much sales tax was coming to us from Hometown Market, nor to tell how much of that will still come to us from other food sources in town.

"I will say this. Gurdon is a town of 2,300 people and there is a market here for a grocery. I believe someone will start another grocery store. I am just not sure as to where it will come from or what type it will be."

Some grocery items are also available through Dollar General and the Red E Mart convenience stores, but Hometown Market has been the main grocery store source for Gurdon.