Prescott Store Closes Dec. 24

PRESCOTT - After operating a convenience store in Prescott for eight years, the Walla Walla Farmers Co-op said it will close the retail operation just before Christmas, leaving only one grocery store in the town.

"It wasn't profitable for us," said Doug Nelson, the co-op's controller in Walla Walla. "It was more a service to the community."

The fueling station will remain open, though customers will need to open an account with the co-op to get gas and diesel because the station will not dispense fuel using credit cards, he said.

The store has two employees, one full-time staffer who may be transferred to the co-op's convenience store at Ninth and Rose in Walla Walla, and one part-time employee who hasn't decided his future.

"We're really not displacing anybody," Nelson said.

The co-op, a $34 milliona year business providing farm supplies and products, bought the existing building and property in 1970. Sales at the Prescott convenience store were perhaps in the $200,000 range, a tiny fraction of the co-op's income, he said.

The Walla Walla-based co-op operated a tire shop and lube shop until 1995, then opened the store in 2003 because it seemed compatible with the fueling station already there.

But there weren't enough customers in Prescott, which has a population of 305, or on Highway 124 to support two stores, Nelson said. The other one is Sandy's Market on Highway 124.

Prescott Mayor Libby McCaw said she understands the financial reasons for the co-op's decision to close the store, but said it will be a loss to the town.

"We're going to miss it," she said. "The feedback I have gotten from people is that they're very disappointed. It kind of took us aback."

McCaw said the little store was a welcome gathering place for local residents who went there for coffee and company.

"It's been a wonderful place for them to socialize," she said.

On the other hand, Mc- Caw said understood how the state of economy probably made the retail outlet less than viable and the community gets that.

"They understand you're in business to make money," she said.