Community of Menno Planning Bigger Grocery Store

MENNO, S.D. (AP) — Residents who took over the lone grocery store in the southeastern South Dakota town of Menno to keep it from closing are now planning to build a bigger store.

Menno Food Market board chairman Dave Bender tells the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan that the store has seen rapid growth since shareholders bought the private business in 2008. Shareholders recently bought land along U.S. Highway 18 for an 8,500-square-foot supermarket, twice the size of the downtown store.

The group hopes to have the new site open within two years. Bender says it will not only better serve local customers but also will tap into highway traffic.

Manager Shawn Black says a bigger store also would likely mean the need for more workers. The current store has 14 employees.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.