EMMETSBURG – When the Food Pride store closes its doors for the last time later this month, Emmetsburg residents will have one less place to shop for groceries and one less day in which to do it.

Store owner Tim Dittes, who purchased the store in June 2014, said the decision to close the store is based on economics. It simply has not been profitable.

“With the size of the store,” he said, “it wasn’t making it when we bought it.”

Despite making improvements to the store, including fresh paint and new signage, he said it continued to lose money.

“We still aren’t getting any returns on it,” he said.

The store employs 24 people, he said. Some of those people will stay on at his other locations; he owns Food Pride stores in Laurens, Sac City and Ida Grove, as well as two locations in Minnesota.

Kim Mammen, co-owner of Your Family Bakery, is sad to see the store close.

“It’s a big impact,” she said. “It’s going to be a big hole.”

While she enjoyed having several shopping options, she’s skeptical that the community can support a replacement.

“I don’t know if we can support a second store,” she said. “Competition is hard nowadays.”

Jean Long, owner of Cuts Unlimited, can see the store closing signs from the front door of her own business.

“I’m in shock,” she said.

Several Food Pride employees are her regular customers.

She’s concerned about the lost jobs.

“That’s going to impact a lot of people,” she said.

She’s also concerned about the impact on the community as a whole.

“I think people will travel out of town to shop,” she said. “It’s a double whammy.”

One of those businesses that could be affected is her own.

Many of her walk-in customers are individuals who’ve been grocery shopping and decide to stop for a haircut. With fewer shoppers, she anticipates fewer customers.

She will personally miss the store too.

“It was always there every Sunday,” she said. “They stayed open a little later too.”

The remaining grocery store, Fareway Foods, is closed on Sunday.

Deb Hite, executive director of the Emmetsburg Chamber of Commerce, said the rest of the Emmetsburg businesses remain strong and committed.

“The rest of us are here to stay,” she said. “We have lots of good things here.”

She stressed that the loss of Food Pride and, recently, the Alco Store, weren’t local decisions.

“It’s two businesses that we had no control over,” she said. “We want people to know that a corporate decision does not reflect on Emmetsburg.”

She said efforts to find solutions are ongoing, and can pull the community together..

“Let’s take this, turn it around and make it work for us,” she said.