By Lori EhdeIn a bad-news, good-news announcement this week, owners of the Luverne Country Store told the Star Herald the business is closing.That’s the bad news.The good news, what they’re focusing on now, is that they’ll continue operating True Value, on a smaller scale, with a new name in a new location."The good news is, and what we hope people understand is we’re not leaving," said Gary Golla owner of the Country Store, which opened September 2002 in the old Jubilee Foods building downtown. "We’re going to be moving and doing something different."The new location will be at the Luverne Farm Store on South Highway 75, where the True Value store will have a paint department, Just-Ask Rental, lawn and garden and pet center."The sad part is the store is closing," said Country Store part-owner and manager Nate Golla, Gary’s son. "But the exciting part for us is that the transition is going to mean we can improve and expand on the areas we’ve been strong in."For example, the paint department will offer new computer color matching software, a new line of paint and new color charts.The lawn and garden department will thrive next door to the Farm Store staff, which includes four licensed turf and ornamental applicators.The new True Value will also remain a catalog store where customers can still order all the products they were used to getting in the Country Store."We already place 20 to 30 catalog orders a week, and those deliveries will still be weekly," Nate said.Departments that won’t be making the move include plumbing, electrical, hardware, giftware and housewares.The timing of the move will depend on the location the Gollas decide on for the venture.One option, they said, would be to remodel the feed storage building adjacent to the east side of the Farm Store office. The other option would be to build new on property just north of the Farm Store along Highway 75.Either way, the Gollas estimate they’ll need about 3,000 square feet to operate the new True Value business.They currently own the 11,000 square-foot building downtown and have spoken with city and county officials, two local retailers and one out-of-town retailer regarding potential interest in the facility."It’s a building I don’t think will stay empty very long," Gary said. "But there’s nothing definite right now as far as the future of the building."Meanwhile, Nate said he’ll start reducing stock in the Country Store to prepare for the move, which will likely occur by the end of this summer."We would hope to make the transition as seamless and smooth as possible," he said. "When we close one location, we hope to immediately open the other."Current bridal registries will be honored through the summer, but the store will no longer accept new listings.The Gollas pointed to a slow local economy and a long learning curve in the retail business as reasons some Country Store departments didn’t thrive."There’s obviously not one particular reason," Gary said. "The local economy has changed — and Ace Hardware [which opened last fall] was certainly a part of that. But the economy in general hasn’t been that good, and people are more mobile.""When we put up the store, we did it based on the model True Value provided us," Gary said. "But as time changes, maybe the product mixes that were correct before aren’t today, especially areas like plumbing where the technology is always changing."Both Gary and Nate said they’ll feel more comfortable with the four departments the new store will offer. "We’re going to streamline the business into one we feel can be successful," Nate said. "It will allow us to focus on our strengths, and that what’s going to make it fun."Efforts of many …The Gollas said they have a long list of people to thank for their efforts in starting and supporting the Country Store."We thank all the local contractors for their continued business and support, and all the local businesses, too," Nate said. "… anyone who’s ever come through the doors to spend time with us and shop our store. We look forward to servicing them in the future as our business changes."The Gollas specifically appreciated the efforts of part-owners Greg Uithoven and Dean Fey, plus contributions by Diane Leuthold and Bill Jarchow, all current Farm Store employees.The thank-you list also includes former Country Store manager Beki Weber and the Weber family — Charlie, Shirley, Brian and Lynette Weber.Other former employees include Melissa Anderson, Jessica Beyenhof, Brandon Johnson, Kyle Kreun, Jesse Leuthold, Jen Luitjens, Don Schouwenburg, Vicki Steensma, Jan Van Eck, Merrick Van Otterloo and Bruce Wilson.Current employees are Stephanie Christensen, Christy Csobor, Carol Dohlman, Orrie Frahm, Kelley Fransman, Matt Kruger, Deb Remme, Teresa Reu and Barry Shelton."A good share of the employees will come along," Gary said. "We’re fully busy here at the Farm Store, and we’ll need to have these enterprises fully staffed."He also thanked the community for its support. "We look forward to demonstrating our value as a local business that prides itself on quality and service."
