The endangered Bashas’ store, the only remaining grocery still operating in the Route 66 town of Needles, Calif., will remain open for the foreseeable future, reported the Needles Desert Star this week.
The Bashas’ chain had filed for bankruptcy months ago, and the closure of the Needles location and nine other stores was part of an initial reorganization plan.
The city agreed to offset part of the store’s costs, totaling $350,000, for a four-year period. In exchange, Bashas will work to replace old equipment to lower the store’s utility costs. The landlord also renegotiated the lease.
I know some would blanch at a municipality offering financial incentives to keep a private business open. However, Bashas is the only grocery store in Needles. Its closure would have been catastrophic to the town’s senior citizens (many whom don’t drive) and its poor because the nearest grocery is more than 20 miles away.
When a community has only 1 grocery store, and the town’s existence is dependent on it, it is only partially private in name! The reality is it’s public by nature, and if the municipality didn’t support it, the municipality may no longer exist? I’d strongly suggest the community learn a valuable lesson in all this, and start developing a Co-Op as soon as possible, for their own benefit and longevity. One of your favorite Route 66 towns, with less population, has done just that. They have recently started a Food Co-Op, which will protect them from such fate, and create some new competition in the marketplace.
I hope they can survive, for the sake of the town and the folks who depend on them. Its a shame the city has to come in and bail them out so to speak, but it speaks volumes about what a community is.