A thoughtful approach could lead to ‘both/and’ solutions
By Heidi Marttila-Losure
You may have heard that the Frederick Development Corporation is working on partnering with Agtegra to build a convenience store near the gas pumps along U.S. Highway 281. You’ve also heard that the Community Store board is making a concerted effort to keep the store open after facing financial struggles. Having heard these two things, you may assume that they are contradictory goals: A town the size of Frederick can’t support both efforts, and so we are going to have to choose: Old or new? Main Street or highway? History or progress?
I believe that is a false choice.
First, let’s agree on one thing: Everyone involved in these efforts wants Frederick to thrive. Many community members are giving of their time, talent, and treasure as they serve on boards, volunteer, or detour to shop locally. We are doing this because we care about Frederick and our neighbors who live here, and we want it to be a good place to live.
What we disagree on is how to help.
The Community Store is valued because of its history, its anchoring presence on Main Street, its role as a gathering place, its local ownership, and the ability to buy groceries close to home. Those things matter. If forced to pick one or the other, I personally would pick the Community Store. I love historic places with character, local ownership and management, and a thriving Main Street.
But here’s the real question: Is a new convenience store necessarily taking from the Community Store—or would it bring new economic activity to town?
In economics, there’s an idea called the “fixed pie fallacy.” It’s the belief that there is only so much economic activity to go around, so if one business gets a bigger slice, then another gets a smaller slice—or none at all. That’s not an unreasonable way to think in rural places like ours, as we are often dealing with limited resources. We have survived by being thrifty and making do.
The key issue now, however, is not how we divide Frederick’s existing grocery spending. It’s whether we can capture spending that currently drives past us.
The data center in Ellendale and increased traffic along Highway 281, as well as a longstanding lack of parking for semis between Jamestown and Aberdeen, have created a rare opportunity. There are dollars that do not currently enter our town that we could capture with a business near the highway. If the convenience store primarily serves pass-through traffic—truck drivers, commuters, and travelers—then it is not dividing our existing pie. It is adding a new one.
That said, the concerns are legitimate. Highway businesses can hollow out Main Street if they only pull from local spending. And once a business is built, the impact can’t be easily reversed.
This is the time to think thoughtfully and creatively.
If people stop at a convenience store on the edge of Frederick, how could we invite them to explore Main Street and benefit the rest of the community? If a highway convenience store focuses on speed and traffic, perhaps the Community Store leans into something different: daily lunch specials, specialty coffee and ice cream, fresh-baked goods, or expanded local food and craft options—all of which could be advertised to those stopping along the highway.
What works will ultimately need to fit with what the community is excited to support as well as with who is willing to do the work. But these ideas are examples of the kind of things that could be possible in this new environment.
This moment of increased traffic may not last forever. But while it is here, we have an opportunity not only to capture outside revenue, but to rethink how we build businesses that are strong enough to serve Frederick for years to come.
In addition to serving as Editor of Frederick Area F.Y.I., Heidi Marttila-Losure is Vice President of the Frederick Development Corporation and a former member of the Community Store board.