So when Gowrie’s grocery store showed signs of distress, it should have been no surprise that Gowrie residents would stand up to support a local venture, as they have been known to do for businesses on their main drag.

“The whole downtown, it cycles,” said Marcie Boerner, local business leader and owner of Liberty Market. “Lately, there’s a sense of confidence.”

That confidence was on full display in January after a passionate meeting yielded results: Gowrie Grocery LLC managed to raise $250,000 in 10 days to purchase Jamboree Foods, the town’s only grocery store, averting an impending closure.

As other small towns become food deserts on the rural horizon — an irony not lost on the places that happen to be known for producing America’s food — the citizens of Gowrie took a tenacious first step that night in an attempt to rescue their only grocery store, inspiring nearby towns like Manson to wager friendly competitions to raise similar amounts of money in less than 10 days.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
A man takes something out of the freezer at Jamboree Foods, the grocery store that has been in Gowrie since 1945.

“I’m in,” said former Gowrie Mayor Dave Stokesbary on Jan. 7 after peppering the board with questions. “I’ve bet on uglier horses.”

Though several had volunteered to pitch in however they could — including the former owner of the store offering to help train the new meat department — Stokesbary’s quip drew a stronger response.

After a lot of concern about business plan specifics, it roused a palpable response from the crowd, shifting its demeanor’s focus from the lingering anxiety of a closure to the exciting possibilities of an institution reimagined for success.

“Gowrie is always amazing to see the amount of people in town, when you drive down Market Street on a weekday,” said Boerner as she reflected on the business scene as a whole.

Numbers can be a double-edged sword in a town of 1,000 when a business needs volume to survive. But in Gowrie, close ties have reinforced the sense of confidence as business and community leaders plan toward the future.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Akasha Cox tends the bar at Ole Town Road Pub & Eatery in Gowrie.

Other ties, like the one holding a sign down in front of the shop, have their place, too. To that end, a new facade grant is available to local businesses looking to give their storefront a facelift.

“If (businesses) want to do improvements to a building, there’s a process to match funds to promote upkeep in the downtown district,” Boerner said. “This is something we’ve been excited about implementing over the last year.”

That can instill even more pride in Gowrie, which Boerner said is proud because it has a “little bit of everything.”

Newly elected Mayor Bruce Towne, a veterinarian by trade, said that keeping businesses “top notch” in Gowrie is a top priority.

“(Residents) see reason to have businesses here still, and I see that as a positive,” Towne said, as younger generations start to invest themselves in their hometown, too.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Ole Town Road Pub & Eatery, the new name for what used to be Marv’s Market Street Grill, is now owned by Larry Carlson and Melisa Leadley. The mainstay restaurant in Gowrie changed hands in 2019.

Recreation, housing and amenity maintenance is in line with that mission to continue to keep Gowrie a self-sufficient community. Towne said the city is working on ways to develop a more organized plan for zoning and building in city limits.

As community members like Boerner find themselves working as a jack of all trades, they’ve discovered that finding a niche and sticking together are keys to competing in a globalized economy.

So much has changed on the downtown scene since Boerner grew up in Gowrie, but as the town works diligently to fill the shell of what was left behind over decades, Boerner wants to help them look forward with confidence.

Gowrie has seen a resurgence in retail in recent years, with businesses coming in to fill the vacancies left in older buildings by a local newspaper, bank and other businesses as they moved to other buildings.

“It was done purposefully,” Boerner told The Messenger in October of the replenishment. “Gowrie has always been about good businesses.”

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Gowrie remains active with a vibrant business community in a town of about 1,000 people. Business leaders say they’re proud of how active their main street is, as well as the strength of the locally owned businesses.

Other new changes over the last year include new ownership of what used to be Marv’s Market Street Grill, now called Old Towne Road Pub and Eatery, owned by Larry Carlson and Melisa Leadley.

Most items in Liberty Market are made around Iowa and feature a handmade quality. And as tastes change or customer needs arise, smaller shops can adapt and react more nimbly.

“It’s a smaller menu, that way we can build as we grow and learn what our customers want,” Leadley said to The Messenger about the new menu in November. “We want to keep the food fresh and rotating out.”

But for a few extra dollars, owners like Boerner emphasize what you’re supporting, beyond a simple transaction.

You could be buying dance lessons for their kids, she said.

You’re supporting the artists that make her products. You’re supporting the property tax base of homeowners that keep schools open and roads paved.

Most importantly, you’re strengthening relationships in a community that make it more than a gathering of people, she said — greater than the sum of its parts. Gowrie Development Commission continues to facilitate events that foster those relationships throughout the year, giving events like the annual “shop hop” a deeper purpose.

As chains like Dollar General plan new stores in towns like Gowrie, the support that has carried other independent businesses through may mitigate the threat some businesses dread with the firewall of community ties. As Jamboree Foods looks to another life, possibly under another name, adaptation to trends may help anchor independent businesses to weather the storm.

“We want to maintain everything we have, not lose people to Des Moines,” Towne said.