The big bright apple on the corner of 8th and Jefferson will soon be fading away.
Wellington Apple Market owners announced Monday, the store will be closing permanently.
Theresa Giefer bookkeeper for the Wellington Apple Market for more than 26 years, said three employees were told the news about two weeks ago, while others just got the news earlier this week.
“It's hard, but I can understand...the people of Wellington have been really great to us but with the economy and everything going downhill it's just as hard for the owner to keep up,” Giefer said.
Apple Market has been a Wellington staple, still called IGA by some long-time residents. The grocery store had switched hands a number of times, finally being sold to Tim Voegeli who was with IGA from 1999. Voegeli also owns the Winfield and Rose Hill Apple Markets. Those stores, Giefer said, will not be closing.
Apple Market has been in competition with other grocers in the area for years – namely Dillon's and Wal-mart – and it may have been that competition that did the small store in.
“I think with Wal-mart coming in, it didn't effect us for a while but then it started going downhill after the economy dropped. I think for just about a year we were okay and then we could see sales dropping off after Wal-mart came,” Giefer said.
As part of shutting down its doors, Apple Market will have a huge storewide sale starting Wednesday, with all items 20 percent off, Giefer said. From there, items will be marked down more and more until everything is sold. Once all the items are sold, she said, the store will be gone for good.
“It depends upon the sales and stuff...we could be open anywhere from two to three weeks, probably,” Giefer said.
Sumner County Economic Development Director Janice Hellard, who works across the street from the grocer, was surprised to hear the news Monday.
The grocery store is among a handful of Wellington businesses to close in the past few years including the Commodore Club, Challenger Learning Center, Taco Tico and Love’s.
Hellard says proposals to draw in new business and current business owners in Sumner County have been working towards the future, holding down the financial fort until the economic storm has passed.
“We've seen more people in our office and I'm hoping that's a good indication that things are going to turn around for businesses,” Hellard said. “I think that people see that if they can make it through until things turn around it will go back to being good because typically after a big recession...there's this time frame of real expanded growth after that.”
But while other businesses maintain their capital and employees, Apple Market will not be.
Twelve employees are being displaced because of the store closing – four of which are full-time employees. While some employees may find work at the other Apple Markets owned by Voegeli, a vast majority will be out of work, including Giefer.
“I do need to do something to keep my mind occupied or my hands busy,” Giefer said.
The employees are saddened to leave behind not only their jobs, but the customers they have been serving for years. Giefer says it's the customers who have kept the doors open for years and all the employees have appreciated their support through the years.
“They are really sad that it's closing,” Giefer said of her co-workers. “We wish that it could stay open. We enjoy working together and so it's just been sad.”
Wellington, Kan. —
