ARCANUM — A rally to Save Sutton’s Foods Grocery Store caught the eye of many locals on social media and the grocery story itself over the weekend.
Josh Urlage, son-in-law to owners Kirby and Lori Sutton, married to their daughter, Shala, and store president, provided a backdrop to the rally and store’s circumstance. He explained how the store has been going through a hard time for over a year now, sharing how the closure of the Union City store in July 2019 after just two years in business as part of the problem.
As reported back in July, the family-owned Sutton’s Foods had expanded to the Union City community in September 2017. Two years later, the owners put up a notice on social media to announce the store’s closure.
“That caused some strain on this (Arcanum) store,” said Urlage, after an attempt to keep both stores alive brought them both down, “Unfortunately.”
While “blessed to be able to serve the (Union City) community,” Urlage noted that since then, the Arcanum location had been caught in a downward spiral. However, several individuals have taken the lead to rally the community to help save the store. One of those individuals taking the lead is Sutton’s Foods employee, Susan Puterbaugh.
“Susan has a vision, way bigger than Sutton’s,” explained Urlage. “She wants to help people however she can, and she wants to start with us.”
A Sutton’s Foods customer, Misty Joslin, also wants to help. She posted on Facebook a rally to Buy Back Suttons that will be held from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 23. The rally is to show support for the Sutton family with a goal to “buy it all and empty the shelves.”
Joslin shared her experience with the loss of a local grocery store in a former community as the reason behind her rally via her website: derangeddear.com. For her, she wants “to help the community” with her website providing the reach necessary to form a rally and community support.
Businesses have also shown their support such as Orme Hardware Arcanum and 4OneApparel, the latter offering discounts with a Sutton’s Foods receipt of $20 or more.
Local Girl Scout Troop 34132 will also join the rally this Saturday with the new café, Tangies, located in the former Kaup Pharmacy in Sutton’s Food, to offer coffee and cookies during the event. (Stay tuned to an upcoming story on Tangies in the Daily Advocate).
“We’re overwhelmed,” said Urlage when asked about the upcoming rally. He referenced going from the lowest of the lows and struggling. “But faith, family, and our community is what has kept us going. That’s how we live our lives. We feel like everyone in the community is our friend.”
Sutton’s Foods was founded in 1934 by Roy and Nola Sutton.
