By JANIE SOUTHARD
jsouthard@dailystandard.com
All Dave’s Market locations will close, except for the
23,000-square-foot facility in St. Henry.
The Daily Standard learned from a Dave’s Market corporate
employee this morning that only the St. Henry store, opened
last November, will remain of the grocery chain in Auglaize,
Allen and Mercer counties. Earlier this year the Kenton and
Lakeview stores closed as owner Dave Evans cited declining sales
and debt pressures.
The St. Henry location is financed through a revolving loan
with the county as well as a Community Development Block Grant
through the state.
Larry Stelzer, Mercer County community development director,
this morning said loan payments to the county are current. Evans
initially provided personal as well as corporate guarantees
and collateral protecting the county’s investment.
The loan, which was used to finance store equipment, is payable
at a rate of $7,000 a month for seven years.
The building housing the Dave’s Market in St. Henry is
owned by Kreigel Corporation in Van Wert.
During 2003 Evans also had applied for CDBG money to open a
store in Wapakoneta, but was turned down because the St. Henry
store was still under construction.
“CDBG refused his application because they didn’t
want two projects going at the same time. Now the owner of the
(Wapakoneta) building to be constructed where Dave’s wanted
to go in is looking at other projects. I don’t anticipate
a Dave’s Market will come to Wapak,” said Rex Katterheinrich,
Wapakoneta safety service director.
An Auglaize County newspaper reported on Saturday the Wapakoneta
Area Economic Development Council discussed at its Feb. 4 meeting
the “fact that Evans was looking for a buyer for the St.
Henry store.” But Wapakoneta economic council director
Kathy Keller said this was never presented as a fact.
“I was surprised when I read that in our paper. We discussed
the whole area grocery situation and rumors we’ve heard,
but I don’t recall anyone at the meeting ever said closing
the St. Henry store was a fact,” Keller said this morning
in a telephone interview.
Numerous messages left by The Daily Standard for Dave Evans
at the market headquarters in Cridersville have not been returned.
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