By Gina Holt
Enquirer contributor

WALTON - Now that the election is over, the winners are turning to the main campaign issue: Bringing a grocery story to Walton.

"We all want a grocery store," said Ann Leake, former city clerk, who will take a council seat in January.

Several candidates mentioned bringing a grocery story back to the city about 20 miles south of Cincinnati.

At one time, Model Food Store and Walton IGA were both located in this Boone County city.

But now Walton residents have no full-service grocery store. They must drive to Florence or another town to shop for more than just milk and bread.

Gary Landrum, owner of Walton IGA, bought out Model Food Store about 15 years ago. He kept the IGA open until about four years ago.

Mayor Phil Trzop said he wasn't certain why the store closed.

"It wasn't for lack of business," said Ms. Leake.

Mr. Landrum couldn't be reached for comment, but Dan Zmurk, manager of the Gallatin County IGA, said "The big boys ate him up. The competition got him: Sam's, Bigg's, Meijer."

Ameristop moved into the old IGA. Ms. Leake said she now drives at least 15 minutes to shop at Kroger on Mall Road or Remke on Dixie Highway in Florence.

"I drive," she said. "We have a lot of senior citizens in town who don't have transportation.

"We have, like, three places in town where you can get milk, bread and lunch meat. We have Brook's Meat and Mr. G's, which is a deli, and he carries some canned food.

"You can exist, but it's just not a one-stop shopping deal like you can have at a Remke or a Kroger. You don't have the selection or the variety."

Mayor Trzop, re-elected Nov. 5, said it doesn't make sense for Walton, one of the three cities in Boone County, not to have a grocery store.

"A grocery store is a plus," he said. "It rounds us out as a community. We have our own school system. We have our own dentist, doctors, drug store. The only thing we don't have is a grocery store to offer the full circle of community service.

"I've been looking for one since IGA left. We've sent stuff to Flick's and Kroger's and Remke's, just trying to find anybody who tells us they know somebody."

He said Save-A-Lot considered building in Walton but decided having a store there could hurt its Independence and Dry Ridge stores.

"Personally, I would take anything that would take a chance on Walton," Mr. Trzop said, adding that he'd even welcome the bigger stores.

"We can beg and barter all we want. It's their money. They're the ones who are going to make the final decision."

Ms. Leake is a little more particular.

"I probably wouldn't want a large store," she said. "We are a small town and we want to keep our small-town flavor. We really don't have anywhere to put something like that unless it would be over by the interstate. There are probably some people who would appreciate that, but it's my personal opinion that the majority wouldn't want that."

Mr. Trzop said the grocers he has spoken to say Walton's population of 2,500 does not provide a big enough market area for a grocery store, but he disagrees.

Verona and Southern Kenton County residents and people traveling on I-75 could take advantage of the store, he said.

The once-rural city of Walton grew 20 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to census figures.

But the census tract that includes Walton has grown 43 percent, up to 13,000 residents, as subdivisions such as Triple Crown and Southerland filled up.

"We think the 500-home subdivision currently under construction will be another asset to make us more marketable for a grocery store," Mayor Trzop said.

John Zimmerman, spokesperson for Meijer, said the large chain has not considered building in Walton. The chain has stores in Cold Spring and in Florence.

"We look for an area that's growing, that has a potential for further growth," said Mr. Zimmerman. "We look for the availability of land. We look to see if the infrastructure is in place. We look to see if it's on a site or road that can handle the traffic and then we look to see if the area needs a Meijer store."

Although Walton is only 20 minutes south of Florence, where there is a Meijer store, Meijer would consider building there if it met the criteria.

Kroger has taken a look at Walton, the company's spokesman said. "Yes we have (looked at locating in Walton) and we will continue to do so in the future. We haven't settled on anything at this point," said Art Wulfeck, communications manager for Kroger.

Remke officials were in meetings Monday afternoon and could not immediately be reached for comment.