“He is suffering quite a bit because they are not actually making the kind of dollars they need in the store and this has been going on for some time,” Trotwood Mayor Mary McDonald said.
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But his other stores at 1010 Wapakoneta Ave. in Sidney and 6122 W. Third Street in Drexel are profitable, he said, and they will remain open. He will work most days from the Drexel store, he said.
“I’ve had some great years, and some bad years, but a lot of good years,” Davis said. “I’ve had some great people work for me over the years…A lot of kids in high school you see them grow up.”
But since the news of the closings has unraveled, Davis said some people have stepped forward in what could become a “silver lining.”
“People have called me today wanting to buy both stores, so the Lord only knows,” Davis told the Dayton Daily News Wednesday. “It’s not a done deal yet, but the phone is ringing.”
If any deals come to fruition, the buyer’s would be strictly taking the inventory, Davis said. Buyers could change the name, but Davis said he hopes they would continue operating in the same space he currently leases and take on current employees.
Across the four stores, Davis has about 168 employees, and he said the worst part of closing is knowing that some of them could be without jobs.
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“I can’t move everybody at this store to another store. And both the stores I’m closing are bigger than the ones that I’m staying open,” he said.
Those workers and routine customers were his favorite part of his business. He’s had two generations of kids working in his Trotwood store and watched many children grow up while working in Foodtown.
Davis first purchased the Imperial Foodtown in Trotwood in Sept. 1977, changing the name to Trotwood Foodtown. He then expanded into the other markets he covers over the last four decades.
“I was working for a grocery store as a kid…and after I quit college I went to work for the Keebler company. My dad ran a dairy and he was having lunch with the guy who ran a chain of stores back in the ’70s called Imperial Foodtown. We lived in Trotwood and my dad helped me buy the first store,” Davis said.
Once the store winds down on inventory it will run a going out of business sale to liquidate, Davis said.
“I’m just thanking (the customers). I was here almost 43 years now and I was in Tipp for 16 and I appreciate all their efforts and the employees that pass through the door,” Davis said.
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