Jim and Carmen Diehl are true independent supermarket operators, running three stores in the northeast corner of Wyoming and helping to keep their small towns viable.
Jim and Carmen each have been in the industry for more than 30 years and own Diehl’s Supermarket in Moorcroft, Joe’s Food Center in Upton and Paradise Foods in Pine Haven.
The ownership of the stores is somewhat unique. Jim owns Diehl’s, Carmen owns Joe’s Food Center and, together, they built from the ground up the 7,000-s.f. Paradise Foods in Pine Haven, close to the 20-year-old Keyhole Lake recreation community.
Like the stores, the communities in which they operate also are unique.
Moorcroft and Upton have populations of approximately 1,000, while Pine Haven’s population is about 500.
“Paradise Foods in Pine Haven is a different situation for us, as it is very seasonal,” Carmen tells The Shelby Report. “Diehl’s Supermarket in Moorcroft and Joe’s Food Center in Upton are more stable year-round, so it has been a learning curve for us.”
Carmen notes that, being located on the west edge of the Black Hills, the economies of the communities where she and Jim do business see a boost from tourism.
All three of their stores include gas pumps.
“We are currently not branded with a certain company and buy our fuel from different suppliers depending on cost and availability,” Carmen says. “Gasoline is not our main business but a convenience for our customers, and huge canopies in front of our stores has never appealed to us.”
Rather, their grocery business is what the Diehls’ stores emphasize.
Two of the stores feature in-store delis with warm food options for customers.
Joe’s Food Center also features homemade rolls and other fresh-baked goods every day. One store sells coffee by donation; the store donates the coffee and people give what they feel they can. All proceeds go to local organizations—from the Girl and Boy Scouts to the volunteer fire department and food bank.
The three stores are supplied by Norfolk, Nebraska-based Affiliated Foods Midwest, where Carmen currently sits on the board of directors of the member-owned co-op.
The Diehls’ supermarkets are located nine hours from Affiliated’s Norfolk warehouse.
“Without the Affiliated warehouse and supporting programs I’m not sure we’d still be in business,” Carmen says.
The Diehls’ business also provides catering services.
“It has been a great option for the communities—from catering for meetings, weddings, funerals, the yearly celebrations that each community has every year,” Carmen says.
The Diehls handle most of the catering, “as it is hard to hire someone for that position as it is sporadic,” according to Carmen.
“Of course, the employees all pitch in as needed,” she adds.
Between the three stores, the Diehls employ between 35 and 40 people. They consider their employees the foundation of their business.
“We sometimes have to get creative, with employees traveling between stores to work,” Carmen says. “All stores have onsite management teams. We do not have set scheduling; work schedules are done on a weekly basis to give employees a chance to take care of family needs. It is so important to give our people flexibility.”
Additionally, the Diehls offer their full-time employees health benefits at a reduced rate with the company paying most of the costs, an FSA account with monthly donations from the company to help with deductible and out-of-pocket medical expenses and an IRA plan with the company matching 3 percent of wages.
“It does require a lot of capital to do this, but a living wage is necessary to keep quality employees,” Carmen says. “Our employees give back to the communities in so many ways.”
And so do the Diehls. In addition to being hands-on operators and running their stores on a daily basis, both, for years, have been involved with the local chambers of commerce. Carmen also has been active with the local school board, served as a member of the bank board and currently serves on the economic development board that, over the last 10 years, has established a rail park in the community of Upton when a bentonite plant was shut down. Jim is involved with the Shriners and has served on the boards of two area golf courses. Twice a week, he gives a local news report on a radio station, keeping him up to date on community events.
The Diehls have two daughters and one grandson involved in the businesses but, at one time or another, all of their children have been part of the business.
“It’s been a great lifestyle in which to raise a family and earn a living,” Carmen says.
Lottery Off to Profitable Start in Cowboy State
After a bit of a rocky start on retailer signup day, the Wyoming Lottery Corp. boasted great sales on its first day of business.
The lottery reported $1,000 in sales per minute for the first hour of ticket sales. Between noon, when lottery sales opened, and midnight, $198,612 in sales was recorded.
Mary Lou Chapman, president and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Food Industry Association (RMFIA), tells The Shelby Report that the sales appear to be continuing.
Retailer associations like the RMFIA worked diligently during the 2013 state legislative session to help lawmakers pass House Bill 77, which created the state lottery.
The primary focus of the associations was to help “curb the loss of cross-border sales,” according to Chapman. Recent years have shown increasing loss of sales from Wyoming residents who travel to, or stop in border towns, to purchase lottery tickets.
“When they stop to buy lottery tickets, they also make other purchases, such as gas, food, meals and any number of other items,” she said. “We are hoping that our Wyoming customers continue to support their local retailers.”
Like all for-profit businesses, the goal of the Wyoming Lottery Corp. is to make money. But, unlike typical businesses, the lottery’s net revenues are distributed by the state to Wyoming’s cities, towns and counties and deposited into the state’s Permanent Land Fund’s Common School Account. In other words, except for operating expenses and winner payouts, all of the money the Wyoming lottery takes in goes back to the state.
Lottery tickets currently are sold at about 400 retailers across Wyoming. Officials with the state lottery have said their goal is to have a maximum of 450-500 ticket-selling locations statewide.
This market profile story by Kristen Cloud originally appears in the November 2014 print edition of The Shelby Report of the West.
