Community Starts Petition Over Abernant Store Closing

In West Alabama, in the city of Abernant, a local store that has been a fixture could be closing. The community has started a petition to save the Hosmer Grocery store off AL-216. This convenience store has been in the Abernant community for over forty years. I noticed a few friends on Facebook talking about the petition. According to WBMA, “Terry Hosmer and his father founded the business in 1980.” Well, the community has started a petition “Keep Hosmers open” in a grassroots effort to help save the store. According to the Keep Hosmers Open petition site at Change.Org, “I feel that this is a horrible decision, and Lakeview will never be the same without him. To all that have ever visited Hosmer's and saw his true smile, help me to keep him open. He doesn’t deserve to be unemployed after over 40 years of being loyal to us.” Also, WBMA noted that “Hosmer told ABC3340 the owner of the property approached him around the time COVID-19 cases arrived in Alabama asking him to empty the space.” Now, that is a sense of community.

I grew up with a sense of community in Pompano Beach, Florida. This story got me to thinking about the stores I visited growing up. We had neighborhood markets, parks, churches, hardware stores, beauticians, laundry mats, mom & pop restaurants, appliance stores, and more. Most of that is gone. Those stores mean something to me and my childhood, just like how the Hosmer Grocery store resonates with the Abernant community.

(Source) For the full story from WBMA, click here. For more on the petition, click here.