EDWARDS COUNTY, IL – Albion, Illinois is the county seat in Edwards County. It’s the place to take care of local business, grab a bite to eat, and up until recently was the place to get your groceries for your home. Recently, that has changed with the closing of the county’s only grocery store, Borowiak’s IGA.
Late in 2022, Trevor Borowiak made the announcement that the Borowiak Family was selling the building that housed the IGA and that the store would be closing at the end of January. The store liquidated their inventory and on January 27, Borowiak’s IGA closed their doors for the final time. With the closure, that turned Edwards County into a food desert, or a region when they had limited access to healthful and or affordable food. The nearest grocery store to Edwards County is about 15 miles away to the east in Mount Carmel.
While there is now not a grocery store in Albion, a few places around Edwards County are working on trying to help with the problem. Bailey’s Bistro at the corner of Fifth and Main at the beginning of January started selling produce products in store. Morgan Bailey and her husband, Kenyon own the restaurant. Morgan says that she decided to take on the task of selling produce to help to community.
Bailey mentions that even though at times not all of the produce she carries gets ordered by consumers, she has ways to use the goods before they go bad.
Another business in the county that is trying to help is The Village Cafe in West Salem. Avery Goodman is part of the West Salem Development Committee. She tells us what gave her the idea to work with local businesses to bring produce in to help others.
Locally, the Phillips 66 gas station at the intersection of IL 15 and IL 130 is also doing its part. Goodman talks about that as well as another business that is involved in trying to contribute.
Overall, Bailey says that she feels community support for the produce stand has grown more in the last week since the grocery store has officially closed its doors/
In the end, Edwards County may have been dealt a blow with the loss of their grocery store, but several community members in the county are trying to make a difference and help their friends and neighbors.