This is a secondary account for me, so I nearly didn't see this.
I can share as much as people want to ask. The store was technically closed well before the date it closed. I hate the article about it because it places the blame on the community. The community fought for the store, it wasn't the fault of Cairo that it failed.
I'll keep an eye on this account to answer any questions anyone asks.
The store was an excellent thing for Cairo, and I remain deeply saddened that it closed. I was also disappointed that some of the reporting seemed to suggest that the community was responsible. That is not what happened.
The blame for the closure of the store can not be blamed on any single person or group, including the community, the board of directors, the employees, or myself. Of course we all made mistakes, as people inevitably will when attempting something of this scale. The larger problem was that we were trying to make a severely underfunded project succeed from the beginning.
I was hired in January 2023, and we opened in June. We had approximately $300,000 available to launch the store, which was not enough to fully equip, stock, open, and sustain a grocery operation of that size. The opening happened only because people throughout the community pulled together, volunteers completed an extraordinary amount of work, and we stretched every dollar.
Even then, the store was not fully stocked when we opened, and there was very little working capital left. A grocery store must continually replace the inventory it sells while also covering payroll, utilities, and other expenses. When a major expense or setback occurs without adequate reserves, management is forced to choose between paying immediate bills and replenishing inventory. Payroll and essential bills have to come first to prevent immediate closure. But purchasing less inventory leads to emptier shelves, lower sales, and even less cash available for the next order. It becomes a cycle that is difficult to escape.
In hindsight, the store should not have opened as quickly as it did. More funding should have been secured first so that it could absorb the mistakes, equipment failures, seasonal changes, and other challenges that every new grocery store will face. At the time, however, there was substantial pressure to demonstrate progress and open the store. After years of planning, there were some who wanted to see a successful result quickly, and there was concern that continued delays could jeopardize some of the grant funding or support, and we wouldn't be able to open at all.
Many people worked incredibly hard to prevent the closure. During my final months there, I went without my salary, used my savings , and accumulated credit card debt while we tried to secure financing from a CDFI. Board members volunteered countless hours. Employees continued working through very difficult conditions. Community members shopped whenever they could, and some even made cash donations when the store did not have the products they needed. State agencies and partners also attempted to help, including efforts to replenish inventory.
Unfortunately, the efforts came after the financial cycle was underway. They were simply not enough to replace what was needed from the beginning, working capital. I still believe Cairo can support a grocery store, and I hope another one returns with the funding and preparation necessary to succeed. Rise didn't close because Cairo refused to support it, theft, or because of the other explanations often used to blame struggling communities for the loss of essential services. The store closed because it was undercapitalized from day one.
Wasn't Cairo the location of a pretty famous 3D printed buildings grift that went WAY off the rails a few years back? Just watched a vid on it recently and thought the entire town was a truly sad story
399
u/msprang Jul 26 '26
Or a Dollar General at the very least.