All-In Grocers announces Waterloo business will be sold, store remains closed

WATERLOO — A month after announcing All-In Grocers would temporarily close, owner Rodney Anderson announced the downtown store will remain closed as the business is sold.

The announcement was made Monday morning, the day the store at 221 Franklin St. was supposed to reopen after closing Aug. 12. Anderson previously said on Facebook that a new wholesaler would be resetting the store with lower-cost goods and an expanded product line.

“This was not a decision we knew about a month ago,” Anderson said in Monday’s Facebook post. “This was a decision we accepted after hearing the vision and commitment for this city from an organization with a reputation for success.”

Anderson’s post did not name of the new owner, but said it was initially difficult to consider selling the business.

“I wanted selfishly to hold on to something we worked so hard to obtain, however being a man of faith and the peacefulness God gave me, allowed me to let someone else elevate All In development,” he wrote.

He suggested in the post that the new owner would ensure the business is a “healthy” and “sustainable operation.”

Belinda Creighton-Smith — Waterloo City Council member for Ward 4, which includes the store — said she has heard that the new owner is “someone who has already invested in the community.”

Mayor Quentin Hart declined to comment on the closure and sale.

Grants, incentives helped grocery store open

The grocery store was approved for development in August 2017 by the City Council. The city gave Anderson nearly $2 million in incentives over the years, including an initial $400,000 grant, property tax rebates and land. He was later given an additional $500,000 economic development grant.

Along with $900,000 in grants and 80 percent tax rebates for 10 years, the city also spent about $550,000 acquiring two lots near the project site. Those costs were funded through the city’s tax increment finance district.

It is unknown whether those tax rebates will continue with a new owner.

Noel Anderson, the city’s community planning and development director, could not be reached for comment Monday.

In addition to public funding and incentives, Rodney Anderson made $1 million in personal payments for fees and investment and also received $7 million in loans.

In total, the project was a $10.2 million investment for him.

Store addressed downtown food desert

The Walnut neighborhood store was the first full-service grocery store in downtown Waterloo in nearly 50 years.

Along with the grocery store, the 28,000-square-foot development includes a restaurant, laundry, community center, after-school program satellite office, and reentry services. At least some of the other businesses and services are still in operation. As of Monday morning, the laundry was open with people inside.

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Anderson said he met with staff over the weekend, and the people who work in the grocery store and restaurant will keep their jobs under the new owner.

“Moving forward, the staff will maintain their jobs and benefits when a new ownership takes over,” he wrote.

Other options for groceries and other essentials have disappeared. The Logan Avenue Hy-Vee and Kwik Star plus the CVS pharmacy and Family Dollar store — both on Franklin Street — have closed within a year of each other.

Creighton-Smith said many of her constituents now resort to dollar stores and eating mostly processed food.

“People are going to Dollar General across the street (from All-In Grocers),” she said. “They provide the need for now but they don’t have fresh produce.”

The area is once again considered a food desert — defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as areas that are more than one mile from a food retailer providing affordable fresh produce and healthy groceries.

Anderson could not be reached for comment on Monday. Details of the sale of the store and when it may reopen have not been released.