A Long Drive or Driven to Help Their Small Town?

When a chain store’s bankruptcy causes your only general clothing store to close, what would you do? If you’re like most people, you just drive the 20, 30 or 50 miles to the nearest town to do your shopping. But the people of Powell, WY (population 5,500) aren’t “like most people.” They didn’t like having to drive the 25 miles to the Wal-Mart in Cody or the 94 miles to bigger department stores in Billings.

They decided to do something about the 2001 store closing. They sold 800 shares at $500 a share, low enough to build widespread community support, in the Mercantile which started in 7,500 sf but has grown to 10,000 sf since its August, 2002 opening. First year sales of $500,000 were well ahead of projections and have been growing ever since.

Other communities have taken a similar approach including Ely, NV; Malta, MT; Glendive, MT; and Worland, WY. It a great example of how local people, working together can turn a bad situation into new opportunities for their small town.