March 29, 2024

Police chief to reopen grocery store in Iowa town

TABOR — The police chief in the small Iowa town of Tabor has agreed to take on another role by reopening the grocery store.

Tabor residents have had to drive roughly half an hour to larger towns for groceries since the Tabor Market and Deli closed.

Tabor Police Chief Mike Wake said he agreed to reopen the store after a group of local investors bought it from Treynor State Bank.

“The real heroes are the investors because they put their money toward it,” Wake said

The former store closed because of financial problems. Wake is leasing the store and plans to work with his son, Steven, who lives in St. Louis.

“No one else was going to do it, so we did it,” Wake said.

Wake said he has never worked in a grocery store, but he plans to hire people with experience in the store.

Wake will serve as the store’s manager and the city’s police chief at the same time.