Whitmire officials still working on grocery solution

The small town in Newberry County is experiencing a lack of food sources since the sole grocery store left.
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WHITMIRE, S.C. — A 16-mile drive to the grocery store – that’s what some Whitmire residents are forced to travel to get groceries. Town leaders say they’re still working to fix that.
For many, taking trip to the grocery store is a luxury we don’t think about. For some in Newberry County, the nearest grocery store is miles away.
Jojo Woodard says the nearest grocery story for him is 17 miles away. “It’s trouble for old people to get back and forth from the grocery store, especially when you’re in old age and got nowhere else to go.”
He’s not alone, according to Mayor Bill Hollingsworth.
A Piggly Wiggly shut down in February and was replaced by a Family Dollar and a Dollar Tree, both of which have a small selection of grocery items.
Hollingsworth says he is working to get more big chain stores in town.
“We’ve sent letters to thirteen different grocery chains, and we’ve heard from a couple of them.” Hollingsworth said. “We’re never going to quit trying, we’ll continue to try to get a full fledged grocery store in Whitmire.”
One potential solution is being provided by Christa Matthews at Uncle Willie’s grocery store. On Thursday, her team started a weekly mobile food market. The market will run at the Whitmire Community Center every Wednesday.
Matthews says the goal is to find out community needs and explore the possibility of putting a store in Whitmire. She says her pop-up will try to avoid selling items that can be bought at other local small businesses in town.
“We’re going to be communicating to narrow in the demographic to find out exactly what we can bring to best suit the Whitmire community.”
In the meantime, one of the limited options is Joe’s Market. Owner Michael Dillard says the store opened in 1950 with no plans to become the town’s sole grocer. He was hoping to retire shortly, but since Piggly Wiggly shut down, he has had to put in more work, almost doubling what he covers.
“I was really ready to slack off a little bit and take it a little easy,” Dillard said. “Now, I’m doing just the opposite, doing more than I ever have.”