Harter House secures Kimberling City market

Two grocery stores competing for market share in Kimberling City have put the finishing touches on a deal that was 10 years in the making.

Summer Fresh Supermarkets Inc. sold its Kimberling City store Jan. 28 to Harter House Markets LLC for an undisclosed amount, officials at the Springfield-based grocery chains said.

The Summer Fresh store at 11798 Old Highway 13 in Kimberling City will reopen Feb. 10 as a Harter House, said Brad Bettlach, who co-owns three Harter House stores with his family – parents Butch and Lisa, and brothers Andrew and Jacob. The Bettlach family, which is building a fourth store in Nixa, is seeking to sell or lease its Kimberling City building, 12622 Old Highway 13, Bettlach said.

The battle of Kimberling City
The deal was prompted by a seasonal tourism market that left too few customers in winter.

“It was kind of an ‘us or them’ thing, and we came to terms on a deal that Harter House would buy us out of the market,” said Brent Brown, president and CEO of Summer Fresh, adding that it was something the two chains had discussed for a decade.

“For years, every time I saw him around town, I’d ask him, ‘Are you ready yet?’” Brad Bettlach said.

Brown said Summer Fresh owns the property and has agreed to a five-year land lease to Harter House with an option for up to 10 years. He said the intent is that Harter House would purchase the property.

By moving to the 4,000-square-foot store, Harter House will nearly double its square footage in Kimberling City.

Of the 30 full- and part-time employees that worked at the Summer Fresh store, four or five managers will be transferred throughout the chain’s eight stores, Brown said. Some of the other workers are being hired to work at the new Harter House location, Bettlach said, adding the store will employ up to 35.

Big box pressure
For Summer Fresh, the decision to move out of the Kimberling City market falls in line with its recent small-town, one-store strategy. Since October 2008, Summer Fresh has purchased Deem’s Family Center in Carl Junction, Bear Country Market in Conway and Pendergrass Food Fair in Greenfield.

“With the smaller stores, there’s less capital outlay. And it’s nice to fly under the radar with a non-Supercenter location,” he said of being the only game in those towns.

Even in a town without a big-box store, such as Walmart, grocery stores are competing with the large chains, but there is definitely less pressure in a one-store town, Brown said.

Pressure on local stores by big box chains has not affected membership at the Ozark Empire Grocers Association, a group of about 300 primarily independent and locally owned stores and vendors that service supermarkets, said Cindy McMillian, director of operations.

“There have been some changes of store owners, but our numbers have stayed pretty consistent,” McMillian said.

The Bettlachs’ $2.5 million Harter House under construction in Nixa will directly compete with bigger chains, including a Walmart Supercenter. The West Kenneth Street store’s opening has been delayed by weather, and Bettlach said the opening is now scheduled for June.

Two Springfield Harter House stores are owned by Bettlach family members. The East Republic Road store is owned by Brad’s grandmother, Barbara Bettlach, who founded the chain with husband Jerry in 1973. Barbara’s daughter, Kathy Richards, and Kathy’s husband, Randy, own the Eastgate store.