The last grocery store between Trochu and Delia changes hands
After twenty-nine years, the Vandenbergs are selling to the co-op — and the co-op is keeping the butcher counter.
TROCHU — The handwritten sign went up in the window Monday: same hours, same staff, new owner as of September 1. After twenty-nine years, Martin and Elly Vandenberg are selling the Trochu Family Foods building and business to the regional co-operative.
The store is the last full grocery on the forty-minute stretch between Trochu and Delia. When the IGA in Craigmyle closed in 2019, its customers drove here; when this store's future looked uncertain last winter, the co-op board started phoning.
The co-op's general manager confirmed the parts people actually asked about: the butcher counter stays, the school lunch account stays, and delivery to seniors on Thursdays stays. "We didn't buy a building," she said. "We bought a route people already drive."
The Vandenbergs are staying in town. Martin's retirement plan, as stated at the till on Tuesday, is to finally be a customer with opinions.
