The grocery equipment purchased by the city of Osawatomie after Ron’s Country Market closed in 2017 went to auction recently. The online auction brought total bids to over 72 thousand dollars, which netted the city just over 56 thousand dollars. The city purchased the nearly new equipment, cabinets and other items through a lease-purchase agreement with first option bank at a significantly reduced cost of $150,000 in the hopes of bringing another grocery store to town.
Osawatomie Mayor Mark Govea says city officials had hoped to recover more from the sale, saying they were disappointed, and added that he knows the city will receive criticism, but may have gotten more it they sat back and did nothing after the grocery closed.
Equip-bid.com an online auction company, recently purchased the former grocery building form the bank.
