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It’s not cheap to open up a grocery store. You have to buy the coolers, the freezers, keep the shelves stocked, then maybe pick up a 24-hour generator to keep the power on and food from going bad. All of that quickly adds up, which is why Cumberland officials were happy to see that the county’s new grocery store will be getting some support from the state, with the potential for more assistance this fall. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced this week that his office handed out $49,546 in grant funding to Cumberland County. This money will help the new store purchase some needed equipment. 

“The grant is being funded by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as part of their AFID program,” said Cumberland County Administrator Derek Stamey. “It is an infrastructure grant that will fund the purchase of coolers and other machinery and equipment that will be used by the store.”

AFID stands for Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development. The way the program works, counties and cities apply for the money, to either help a proposed or currently being developed project involving something to do with agriculture such as farmers’ markets, food banks and yes, grocery stores. The county or city receives the funding and passes it on to the group operating their specific project. This was one of 12 projects, totaling $497,000, that Gov. Youngkin announced support for this week. Youngkin said in a statement that he was happy the state could help rural areas meet some critical needs. 

“Infrastructure projects such as these provide an opportunity for state and local governments to use agriculture to address critical needs in local food systems and support Virginia’s largest private industry, agriculture,” Youngkin said. 

The first of several applications 

This was the first grant funding announced for the new operation, but county officials are hoping it’s not the last. Stamey said 

“We will also be pursuing Tobacco Commission funding for the store as well,” Stamey said. 

To explain, the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission was created in 1999 by the Virginia General Assembly. Its focus is to help support economic growth and development in areas formerly dependent on tobacco as a cash crop. The group funds proposals for new ideas, as a way of stimulating the economy, using Virginia’s portion of the national tobacco settlement. Now to be clear, not every proposal gets funded. The 28 members that make up the commission vote on each, giving them a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Those grants typically take a bit more time to either approve or reject, as the commission only meets once a quarter. Their next meeting won’t be until this fall. 

The grocery store in question is located at 1481 Anderson Highway, that’s across Route 60 from the County Administration building. It was the old Marion’s Bi-Rite and has also been the old Cumberland Hardware store. For anyone not familiar with the property, the building is roughly the size of a Dollar General store. Now grocery stores are zoned by right in the Cumberland Courthouse district, which is where this falls in. That means they don’t have to go through the process to get a conditional use permit. The group can just start working on renovations. And they’re in the development phase right now.

The grocery store will have several things requested by residents, including fresh fruits and vegetables, canned goods. The group will offer freshly cut meat and have a deli counter. The store will also have a system set up for online ordering. The store will have people who can deliver orders to local homes. They’re also putting in a system, both online and at the store, to require IDs for alcohol and tobacco sales. It’s not a case of possibly forgetting to ask for the ID. The system won’t move forward on either type of sale without an ID. 

So far, the group has had conversations with Coke and Pepsi about selling their products. They’ve also talked with Budweiser and are working on getting their ABC and tobacco license. 

In the middle of a desert 

Getting a grocery store is a big deal, as Cumberland County is identified as a food desert, meaning that residents have limited access to healthy food options. That’s accurate, as a foodbanks.org map shows 13%-17 of residents labeled as “food insecure.” 

Now, to be clear, food insecurity doesn’t mean no options exist. It does however mean there are obstacles in the way. After all, it’s hard to plan on a weekly grocery run if you have no vehicle and no one to give you a ride. At that point, you just take what you can get. It’s also harder to eat healthy when there’s no grocery store in the county. 

Residents in the center of the county have the farthest to travel, in order to get food. Most travel to Powhatan, Buckingham, Goochland, or Farmville to get groceries or they pick them up on their way home from work. Over the last couple of years, the arrival of a Dollar General Market and Pine View Bulk Foods have helped some, but there are still challenges. If you live in the Cartersville or Columbia area, for example, you wouldn’t often make the trip to Pine View, as it’s close to Farmville. 

The hope is that a new grocery store will help drive those numbers down. 

When will the grocery store open? 

The biggest question right now is when will the doors open? As it stands, the new grocery store is set to open for business on Sept. 1.