Fifty-three years ago, the convenient grocery store of Stockbridge opened to the community. Forty-eight years later, on November 9th, 2019, the Ransom’s Food Center permanently closed, and the vacant lot has been sitting ever since. But why?
John and Leona Ransom came to the town of Stockbridge with their five children and an idea of opening a small town grocery store. They worked many hours in order to keep the store open, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., every day of the week for some time. John and Leona were working so many hours at one point until businesses became closed on Sundays.
“There was a period of time back then when businesses were closed on Sunday, and we could all sit around family tables for dinner,” Pennie Ransom-Ward, daughter of John and Leona, said.
“The reason that it closed was because the people got old and Dollar General, as well as competition,” Gary Holver, a long-time Stockbridge resident and customer of Ransom’s, said.
Bringing up the idea of Ransom’s brings back memories for Stockbridge’s longest members.
“Yep, when I was a kid, my parents used to go grocery shopping there because it was close. It’s sad to see it gone now. I’m sure people remember it, but that’s the advancement of technology, I guess,” Holver said.
Ransom’s was just as close to the heart as it was distance-wise.
“Well, the greatest value to Ransom’s was that it was here. I appreciated the small-town family business; they were very nice people. As the years went on, unfortunately, they struggled more,” U.S. History teacher at Stockbridge High School Corey Baird said.
The community strives to give the building a productive purpose.
“It sure would be nice if something moved in there. As long as it’s not like a dispensary or like an alcohol store, it would be great if someone could move in there and make something out of it that’s productive for the community,” Baird said.
“I would like to see another mom and pop shop go into that, something local that I can get behind,” Christina Villegas said.
A year ago, a man named Jurgen bought the property.
“I just bought it for storage and a little bit of a project for me, I guess. I don’t have any plans in particular for the future,” Jurgen said.
“I have no reason to sell unless presented with a good offer; it’s a good building,” Jurgen said. On the inside, Jurgen has cleaned up the space and uses the space for storage. He has a multitude of cars kept in the building for storage.