Rural Grocery Spotlight: 2026 Kansas Rural Grocery Road Trip
In September 2026, the Rural Grocery Initiative hosted its second annual Kansas Rural Grocery Road Trip in partnership with the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative. More than 30 legislators, funders, economic developers, Extension personnel, and rural food access stakeholders came together to visit three stores in south central Kansas. At each stop, attendees heard directly from store operators about the importance of their locally-operated store, the unique challenges they face, and the adaptive approaches they use to serve their communities. A local legislator was also present at each stop.
The tour visited the three following sites:
Bluestem Mercantile (Leon, KS): Bluestem Mercantile is a school-run store in Leon, KS (pop. 656) that opened in March 2020 on Main Street. Through the school’s entrepreneurship program, the store integrates educational opportunities into the day-to-day management of the store and sells products served by the school’s agricultural academy.
Bluestem Mercantile received a loan-grant mix from the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative (KHFI) to support startup costs. With KHFI financing, the school was able to open the Main Street building as a grocery store while giving students hands-on experience in business operations and loan repayment.
This visit highlighted entrepreneurial determination and the power of addressing community needs through an asset-based approach. You can learn more by reading our case study focused on this store.
Batson's Drug Store and Family Market (Howard, KS): Batson’s Drug Store is a longstanding institution in Howard, KS (pop. 516). Julie Perkins, a pharmacist, purchased the store when it was solely a pharmacy in 1995. At that time, there were two grocery stores in town. After the last grocery store went out of business in 2004, Julie and her husband Patrick expanded the pharmacy and opened a grocery store in 2006. The store also has a soda fountain that has been in the building since the 1920s.
This store is a beacon for community health, serving as the only pharmacy and grocery store in the entire county (650 square miles) – an area more than double the size of New York City (302 sq miles). You can learn more by reading our rural grocery spotlight focused on this store.
Salt Creek Market (Eureka, KS): Salt Creek Market is located in downtown Eureka, KS (pop. 2,332). The market is an extension of Salt Creek Farm’s local food aggregation business, which includes an online store and wholesale and retail partnerships in Kansas and beyond. In addition to product from the owners’ ranch, the store also sells dairy and other value-added products from local Kansas producers and operates a garden center.
Salt Creek Farm benefitted from a Business Builder Grant through the Heartland Regional Food Business Center and a loan-grant mix from the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative to support the expansion of their business into their current store location.
This store highlighted the role that external funding plays in providing food businesses with a leg up to expand, achieve and even surpass their initial aspirations. The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant program, Business Builder Grant, and Kansas Healthy Food Initiative were called out as essential scaffolding contributing to what the business is today. You can learn more by reading our rural grocery spotlight focused on this store.
One attendee of the Road Trip shared: “Continue to host this important and informative event. I learned more about the creativity rural grocers utilize to overcome their business challenges."
The Kansas Rural Grocery Road Trip is an annual event that brings together policymakers, funders, and community and food access leaders and gives them the opportunity to learn directly from the grocers that feed their communities across Kansas. Learn more about the stores visited on the 2025 Rural Grocery Road Trip here. Stay tuned for announcements about the 2027 Rural Grocery Road Trip by signing up for the Rural Grocery Initiative monthly newsletter and the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative quarterly newsletter.
