Sep 19, 2026
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4 min read
Rural grocery is one of the worst businesses in America. Shrinking towns, thin margins, and no competition for a reason.
10 min read
Eleven stores is a rounding error to a national chain. In Memphis it is enough to own a neighborhood, which is a different game entirely.
A metro area is exactly the wrong size for a regional grocer. Too big to hide in, too small to matter. One chain made it work anyway.
A New York chain built on cheap meat and warehouse shelves did something unusual with the exit. It sold the company to its workers.
The largest retailer on earth is headquartered down the road. An employee-owned Arkansas chain grew anyway, and the reason is not price.
11 min read
In 2002 the federal government approved its exit on the grounds that it had already lost. Twenty-four years later it is a fifth of every supermarket in Reno.
Forty milkshake flavors and a menu that breaks every rule of fast food. The kitchen behind it is smaller than you think.
A beloved burger chain that never conquered America, and a sweet tea that quietly did. The split tells you where the money was.
Boots that cost more than a plane ticket, sold in stores that smell like leather. The fitting is the product, not the boot.
