Deep roots in the community
HIGHLANDVILLE, MO. – When Doug Glossip and his wife, Erin and their daughters decided to open the Glossip General Store in Highlandville, Mo., in 2010, they did so on a solid family foundation of stores in the area.
“My grandparents, Joe and Ida had the original Glossip Grocery Store in the Highlandville and Spokane area,” Meghan Glossip Abney explained recently. “I don’t remember that store but of course, my dad does. It was opened in the 1930s and closed sometime in the 1970s. My parents decided back in 2010 to open a new Glossip General Store here and now my dad and I work here full-time and my sister, Jessy works part-time. My mom, Erin meanwhile, works for the Christian County Assessor’s office.”
While the original Highlandville Glossip store was a general grocery store, Meghan said they discovered this time around, they do better with feed, seed, farm supplies, hardware, ammo, automotive supplies, bait and tackle.
“Chicken feed and dog food are two of our current biggest items. We offer a variety of brands from ADM, Nutrena, ValuPak, Taste of the Wild, Diamond and more. If a customer wants a specific brand, we’ll try our best to get that for them, too.”
They also supplement their regular inventory with seasonal items such as garden seeds, hay and straw, and live minnows for bait.
“My dad cuts hay in the season on about 60 acres and sells that at the store, too. We carry drinks and snacks but no other grocery items.
“Ours is a family store in every sense and our family has deep roots in the community. Several generations of Glossips have all graduated from Spokane High School and still live in the area. My dad grew up on his parents’ dairy farm and started his career in dairy farming. He’s still on the farm although it is no longer an active dairy.”
She concluded. “There are other Glossip family members who have stores in the area like the Glossip store in Ponce. The real name of the town is Ponce de Leon but everybody around here just calls it Ponce.
“Meanwhile, my son, Renner age 13 helps out here at the store and my nephew, Jessy’s son, Hunter does, too. We continue to be a ‘generational family store’ in all of this and I love that!”
