LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Rural West Texans know picking up something like an avocado for their guacamole isn’t as easy as it sounds.
For a family in Matador, opening a local grocery store isn’t just about putting food on the table, but keeping their neighbors safe and their town alive.
Chris and Vanessa Paul are opening a grocery store, Paul’s Neighborhood Market, after the town’s Lowe’s closed last year, leaving residents without a nearby place to buy fresh produce.
“Allsup’s put in a case for some produce for lettuce, tomatoes, that kind of stuff. But you know, it’s hard to get avocados and serranos and all the other vegetables that people enjoy,” Vanessa said.
To go grocery shopping in Lubbock, Matador families have to drive 82 miles one way.
“So, people were driving to Lubbock or Childress or Plainview. Floydada has a Lowe’s and that’s 39 miles away,” Vanessa Paul said.
The Pauls have kids in sports and FFA, making it difficult to spend several hours a week on grocery trips, but that’s not all they were worried about.
“With gas being as high as it is, and then we have a market, we have older people in the community and the AI plants coming in, they’re nervous about driving on the highways with the semis. And then we have, we are a pretty poor income community and a lot of people don’t have vehicles that can get to a grocery store an hour away and back,” Vanessa said.
They waited for about a year for someone to buy the store.
“It’s a necessity. We need it. Without a grocery store, you know, who stays? Eventually everybody goes, you know?” Vanessa said.
After a year with no interest, they decided to open the store themselves.
Vanessa said it took some convincing, since neither had run a grocery store before.
“He’s retired army and I’m X-ray tech. So, my mom did groceries when we were growing up, my parents had a grocery store, but this is kind of new to us.”
The Pauls are stocking the shelves now with fresh items like produce, dairy, eggs, and bread. They’re working to provide even more than the pantry staples, though.
“We’re gonna have deli. My mom is going to make sandwiches and salads when she’s here,” Vanessa said.
The Pauls say they’ve had a lot of help in Matador to prepare the store for opening, including help with unloading, refrigeration, equipment and plumbing.
“Bert has helped with electricity. We’ve had people that have helped with signs. We had a friend, a member of the Roaring Springs Ranch Club. His wife did our windows,” Vanessa said.
In a rural small town where graduates are moving off to the city and jobs are hard to come by, people like the Pauls say they are working to make it special.
“It’s all about trying to help our community, trying to help our community stay alive,” Chris said.
Paul’s Neighborhood Market plans to open Oct. 1.
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