If you’ve ever driven through the high plains of Western Nebraska, you know that "food deserts" aren't just a buzzword. They're a reality. For a while there, it looked like the Kimball Main Street Market was going to become another statistic in the long list of rural closures. Honestly, people were panicked. You don't realize how much you rely on a single building until the "For Sale" sign goes up and the regional cooperative announces they’re pulling the plug.
But that’s not where the story ended.
Most people assume that when a big player like Legacy Cooperative says a store isn't profitable, that’s the end of the line. We’ve seen it happen in dozens of towns across the Midwest. A corporate entity looks at the balance sheet, sees red, and walks away. However, Kimball isn't most towns. The situation with the Kimball Main Street Market is a wild case study in what happens when a community refuses to let its only full-service grocery store die.
The Near-Collapse of Kimball Main Street Market
In December 2025, Legacy Cooperative President Charlie Wright dropped a bit of a bombshell. After more than a decade of trying to make the numbers work, the board decided the market just wasn't sustainable under their model. They were done.
It's a tough pill to swallow.
The store, located at 815 East 3rd Street, serves as the primary source for fresh produce, meat, and daily essentials for thousands of people in the Kimball area. If it closed, residents would be looking at a 40-mile round trip just to buy a gallon of milk or fresh broccoli. That's not just an inconvenience; for the elderly or those without reliable transportation, it’s a crisis.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Rural Groceries
People think these stores fail because people don't shop there. That's usually not it.
The overhead is what kills you.
When you’re a small-town market, you don't have the massive bargaining power of a Walmart or a Kroger. You pay more for your inventory. You pay more for shipping. Then, when a major system like a cooperative is running things from a distance, the local "entrepreneurial spirit" sometimes gets buried under policy and red tape. Legacy Coop was basically saying, "We can't make this work with our corporate structure."
They weren't necessarily saying the store couldn't work.
The $100 Share: A New Way Forward
Right when things looked bleakest, two locals—John Morrison and Kim Baliman—stepped up. By mid-December 2025, they reached an agreement to take over. But they didn't just buy it with private cash and hope for the best. They’re pivoting to a community-owned model under a new name: the Kimball Coop Food Store.
It’s a gutsy move.
Basically, they started selling shares to the community for $100 a pop. The goal? Sell 2,000 shares to raise the $200,000 needed for initial operating expenses. It’s a gamble on the idea that if the town owns the store, the town will support the store.
Why the New Model Might Actually Work
- Local Decision Making: No more waiting for a board in a different city to approve a new deli slicer.
- Dividends: If the store makes money, the people who shop there (the shareholders) actually get a piece of the pie.
- Agility: A local owner can source from local farmers in a way a large coop often can't.
The property itself is valued at over $1.1 million according to the Kimball County Assessor’s Office. That’s a lot of collateral, but it’s also a lot of building to maintain.
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The Deli Factor and Daily Life
If you’ve never been inside, you might not get why the "Delectable Deli" at Kimball Main Street Market is such a big deal. It’s not just about sandwiches. In a town this size, the deli is the de facto community center. It's where people grab a quick lunch, catch up on local news, and—honestly—just see another human being.
The deli operates from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM most days. It’s a staple. Losing that wouldn't just mean losing a grocery aisle; it would mean losing a social hub.
Current Store Services (As of Early 2026)
The transition is still fresh, but the core services that kept the market alive are still in place. You’ve still got the full meat department, which is a rarity these days in small towns. They still offer:
- Online Ordering: A carryover from the pandemic that actually stuck around because it's convenient for farmers who don't want to spend an hour in town.
- Curbside Pickup: You just call (308) 235-3272, and they bring it out.
- Seasonal Greenhouse: From late spring through summer, they're the go-to for mulch and plants.
Lessons from the Kimball Transition
What happened here is a blueprint for other rural towns. The "entrepreneurial spirit" Legacy Coop was looking for ended up being the very people who lived down the street. It turns out, the "hidden" secret to keeping a Kimball Main Street Market alive isn't finding a bigger corporation to save it—it's getting the residents to buy in, literally.
There are still risks. Inflation is a beast. Supply chains are still wonky. But there's a level of accountability now that wasn't there before. When you walk into the store and you're a part-owner, you're probably not going to drive to the next town over just to save fifty cents on a box of cereal.
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Actionable Steps for Supporting Local Markets
If you live in a community like Kimball, or you're just passing through, here is how you actually keep these places on the map:
- Buy the Membership: If a store offers a coop share or a membership, buy it. That capital is the lifeblood of their operations.
- Use the Deli: High-margin items like prepared foods keep the low-margin items (like milk and eggs) on the shelves.
- Volunteer for the Board: If the store is community-owned, it needs local brains, not just local bucks.
- Communicate: If they don't carry something you want, tell them. Local owners can actually change their inventory in days, not months.
The Kimball Main Street Market managed to dodge the wrecking ball because a few people decided that "too hard to run" wasn't a good enough reason to let a town go hungry. It’s a reminder that in the world of modern business, sometimes the most "sustainable" model is just neighbors looking out for neighbors.