MALVERN, Iowa (KMTV) — It's been more than two years since Malvern lost its only grocery store and, without the store, residents have to make do with a convenience store, Dollar General, and driving about 15 minutes to Glenwood.
- Tom Mulholland, whose family started the store in the 19th Century says, after some stops and starts, he's finally got a workable plan to bring a grocery store back to the community.
- "...Especially in rural communities, the grocery store can be the lifeblood and head up economic development, and a lot of people don't want to move to a community where you can't get access to groceries locally," said Malvern City Clerk Joe George.
- "We're expecting that things will begin very quickly. Hopefully ... they'll get far enough this year that they can continue working through the winter and get things finished up next spring," said Mulholland.
Mulholland shared the architect's rendering of the new store:
WEB EXTRA: Watch the extended interview with Tom Mulholland about the roadblocks he's faced while trying to rebuild his grocery store:
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's been more than two years since Malvern lost its only grocery store in a catastrophic fire.
Without the grocery store, Malvern residents have to make do with a convenience store, Dollar General, and driving about 15 minutes to Glenwood. And those trips add up.
I'm your Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel. After two years of questions, the store's owner says he now has a plan to rebuild.
Tom Mullholland's family started the store in the 19th Century. He weathered the pandemic, receiving attention for his efforts to provide curbside pick-up with a small staff.
But then, in December of 2021 — disaster.
"The emotions come from everywhere," said Mulholland shortly after a fire destroyed his business.
Despite the empty hole on Main Street, where Mulholland's Grocery stood, the town is moving forward. On Thursday, neighbors, including Mulholland, celebrated the grand opening of The Salty Heifer Cafe.
Mulholland knows some of his neighbors wonder why his grocery hasn't had the same celebration. Looking at secondhand, commercial shelves stored in his spare room, Mulholland says, after a few false starts he's got a workable plan.
"We're expecting that things will begin very quickly. Hopefully ... they'll get far enough this year that they can continue working through the winter and get things finished up next spring," said Mulholland.
Malvern City Clerk Joe George says that will be a relief to neighbors who can't easily travel for groceries.
"Tom would take a lot of people their groceries or he would have them bagged up and ready for them at the store. And so those people were really impacted," said George during the opening of the Salty Heifer.
George says a grocery store is crucial.
"...Especially in rural communities, the grocery store can be the lifeblood and head up economic development, and a lot of people don't want to move to a community where you can't get access to groceries locally," he said.
"It's something that is vital for the well-being of the community, in many different ways ... It's just that things didn't work out the way I wanted since then," said Mulholland.
Community leaders told me they've seen Mulholland's new plans for the store.
"... I don't have enough money to build what we wanted to ... But we're trying to do everything that the community needs and what has made this story as popular and successful in the past," he said.
There are a lot of details to this story, which may be of interest to Malvern-area neighbors. On Sunday, I'll post an extended interview with Tom Mulholland — where we sit down and talk about the struggles to rebuild and the roadblocks he's encountered — on our website: 3NewsNow.com
