Customers crowd Taylorville Kroger reopened in time for holiday after five months closed

Nearly five months after being shut down due to concerns over asbestos, Taylorville's Kroger grocery store reopened Wednesday to a relieved and eager public.

Store manager Robin Gross, who has worked for the store for nearly 30 years, said that the parking lot of the store was already full when the store opened at 6 a.m., showing, for her, just how grateful people were to see their community grocery store return.

"The community is absolutely elated that we're back," Gross said. "I've gotten a lot of texts, emails, messages (that) all expressed how upset they were that we closed and they were so happy that we reopened."

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The store closed in July after officials at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency found that asbestos-containing materials had become friable due to removal work being conducted by an Indianapolis-based contractor, SSI Services. IEPA found the company had not taken the proper precautions to keep asbestos from being released into the air.

Officials from Kroger were allowed back into the store in October to begin remediation work. The work was completed two weeks ago, with plans to reopen the store in time for Christmas, as it did.

Members of the community rallied in August to reopen the store to show the level of frustration about the store being sealed.

Gross said the rally may have swayed members of Kroger's upper management to go to bat for the store, helping to ensure that it would reopen.

"I think our company was very moved by all of the support the community has given us," Gross said.

Nearly all of the store's employees who were working prior to the closure returned to Kroger for the reopening, with Gross saying that just seven left for other job opportunities. She said Kroger allowed employees to work at other stores, including the company's locations in Decatur.

"The company was outstanding in supporting the Kroger employees that were put out of work," Gross said. "They moved them to Decatur and let them keep their normal schedule and they paid the mileage back and forth from this store. They were just outstanding to the employees."

The employees who remained were greeted by grateful customers like Irene Rickman of Taylorville. She's a loyal Kroger shopper, having shopped at Taylorville's store for 53 years. She went to Decatur when the store closed in order to take advantage of coupon savings.

"(I like Kroger) because of the 5 for $5 coupons that you get off of certain products – the digital and paper coupons and the gas points," Rickman said. "It's a smaller store – I don't like real big stores."

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Madison Peacock, a returning college student studying at the University of Missouri, enjoys the variety of produce and cheeses, comparing it favorably to Wal-Mart, where she shopped while Kroger was shut down.

"I was kind of sad (when it closed) because this is where we would always head (for groceries) because it was less busy than Wal-Mart," Peacock said.

But no person may have been more relieved to see the store reopen than Mayor Bruce Barry, who came into the store just after it opened Wednesday.

"I think the whole town is excited that they finally get their neighborhood grocery store back," Barry said. "Nothing against the other stores, because they sure helped fill the void, but a lot of people are happy and I saw a lot of happy faces this morning."

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Taylorville Kroger reopens about five months closed