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Homegrown Food owner plans closure

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The owner of Rountree neighborhood market Homegrown Food plans to close the store.

Rob Bailey, who recently ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Missouri House of Representatives against incumbent Steve Helms, said he already had planned to close the business by year’s end but made the announcement via Facebook this morning. He said Homegrown Food has interested buyers that could potentially halt the planned closure.

“We have several people who are interested in being buyers,” Bailey said of the 607 S. Pickwick Ave. business. “The interest part and getting to the actual buying part are two totally different issues.”

Bailey said he hasn’t scheduled the last day for Homegrown Food if a buyer isn’t secured. Noting he’s not working with a business broker and the company hasn’t been listed, Bailey declined to disclose the price for which he’s looking to sell the company. He also declined to provide Homegrown Food’s revenue, but said sales are down slightly this year because he was busy campaigning.

“I had a meeting with the property owner yesterday. We may pass the end of the year depending on how the transition of the business looks,” Bailey said.

A retired hospital account manager for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Bailey, 58, says he receives a pension from the corporation that will allow him to transition his focus to other projects. He owns a couple of rental properties and he’s seeking a biomedical sciences teaching job at Missouri State University. He said he previously was an adjunct marketing professor for MSU.

Bailey purchased Homegrown Food in 2016 from Brad Nelson, who closed the market earlier that year. Nelson purchased the company in 2012 from founders Ryan and Amanda Owen, who still own the building. They started the grocery store in 2010.

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