MALVERN, Iowa (KMTV) — Neighbors in Malvern watched their only full-service grocery store burn down three years ago this month. Now, though, the tears are happy ones as Mulholland Grocery is open on Main Street once again.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Just in time for the holidays, Malvern's three year wait for a grocery is finally over. I’m Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.
I spoke with owner Tom Mulholland who told me there have been a lot of hugs and a lot of tears.
Customer: “Just text me, whatever.”
Mulholland: “Yeah, okay, I will.”
It’s been three years since a fire tore through the historic building that was home to Mulholland Grocery for more than a century. Since then, I’ve reported on the challenges of rebuilding the only full-service grocery in this town of a thousand people.
“You can’t imagine the tragedy of watching the building burn years ago and now it’s just the opposite,” Mulholland said.
This is my dad’s hometown and so I know how important it is for this community to have its grocery store back. For three years, malvern neighbors relied on convenience stores and a chain store with some groceries. Or, they drove at least 11 miles to Glenwood.
Mulholland says the support from neighbors has been “amazing.”
“There’s so many of these people I’ve known my whole life and and there’s others that I don’t even know who they are and I’m getting hugs from them,” he said.
The building next door, which was also damaged in the fire, is now home to the Tee’d Up Tavern opening Saturday.
Mulholland hopes to have a grand opening sometime in the spring.
