Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Where Did the Summer Go?

This July 2016 was the ten-year anniversary of the Homer Village Market opening for business! A lot of changes have taken place at the store over the years with perhaps the most significant being obtaining beer and wine carryout licenses to sell beer and wine starting in 2014. Other recent changes include offering propane tank exchange beginning 2015 and removing the iconic Pepsi vending machine from the store front in the Spring of 2016 due to a spike in vandalism over the past two years.

Many new families have moved into Homer in the past year or two, and the changing demographics in the area have led to changes in the types of products offered in the store. Less prepared foods are offered and more ingredients are on hand. Refrigeration space is at a high premium for cold beer storage, so less cold food is available than before. Challenged by the small size of the store, we are constantly replenishing the coolers and shelves throughout the day from the nearby stockroom.

In July, the store hours were changed to give the sole proprietor, Jean, more time to take care of non-store business and family matters that had been neglected due to the hectic pace of operating the store over the past ten years and implementing recent changes in products.  Many customers were disappointed to find the store not open as early as before, but many others were pleased to find the store open a little later and also on Mondays.

The store has been closed on Sunday since early July, but plans are to operate on Sundays again very soon when the expanded hours are re-established for Fall and Winter.  After all, the voters of this Township indicated they wanted to be able to buy beer on Sundays. Being closed on that day has been nice for the owner, but not so nice for the customers who enjoy shopping on the weekends!

This summer also marked the 200-year celebration of the existence of Homer, Ohio.  The Homer Library organized and coordinated a very nice celebration this past weekend on Saturday, September 17. Many weeks of preparation resulted in some fascinating exhibits of historical information including old photographs and other documents important to the local area. Markers were placed around the community to designate the original locations of historic homesteads and businesses as well as markers at the gravestones of early settlers and noteworthy individuals laid to rest in the Homer Cemetery. Local historians gave speeches about the people and places of long ago in Homer.

There was even a little parade. The local churches and the firehouses offered refreshments and entertainment for the community. A good time was had by all. More information is available on the Homer Library website and facebook page as well as inside the library.  Local news articles are available online. Of special interest were some articles about Victoria Woodhull, born in Homer, the first woman to run for the office of U.S. President.

We hope everyone is having a great Summer and enjoying all the beautiful countryside as we approach pumpkin season!  We have had a bit of a drought this past summer and some very hot and humid days.  As much as we hate to see an end to the season, Fall temperatures are a bit more pleasant for football and other outdoor sports and recreation!

Stop by the store to see what's new.  We have a new supplier of local, raw honey, West Apiary (Paul's Bee Yards) in nearby Milford Township.  Soon we will be stocking Bullhead's Beef Jerky again, a local favorite. We have several gluten-free snacks on hand, frozen pizza imported from Italy, and plenty of wild-caught alligator for your next tailgate party.

Alaskan beer is available in Ohio as of about a month ago, and we are stocking it along with many favorite beer brands  We have lots of sweet red wines from Ohio and regional wineries as well as plenty of dry reds from California, Argentina, Italy, and Chile.  If you prefer white wine, we have a variety of whites ranging from dry to very sweet.  If you enjoy a good glass of wine, plenty of bottles are available for less than $8. Celebrating? We have some nice wines also in the $10-$24 range. Our prices are all State Minimum, and we take a lot of time to analyze the wholesale price changes to get the best price at the best time to pass along these values to our customers.

Hope to see you soon!  Thanks for stopping by the blog.