Closure of Paul's Market represents big loss to city

Dear editor,

I was shocked and saddened a couple of weeks ago when LeiLani (a cashier at Paul's) told me that the store was closing. My heart goes out to every employee who is facing an uncertain financial future due to the closure.

This news has made me, and others in the community, very reflective about how the employees and store have impacted our lives. Allow me to share with you a trip down memory lane. I was born in Mountain Home in the early 1960s, and some of my first memories were of The Merc, which was the name of the store before Paul's bought it. It was our family's store.

When I chose to live in Mountain Home to pursue my career, Paul's was my family's store, and the employees have watched my children grow up and knew them by name. One of the coloring contests gave my daughter the confidence to pursue art when she goes to college this fall, because she won that contest while in elementary school.

As my kids were young, we always stopped in to buy water before the Air Force Appreciation Day parade and sipped on it while the parade went by the Paul's parking lot that we were sitting in, which always had a festive atmosphere during the parade. For a long time, not a shopping trip went by without Chuck Devol (the cookie man for years) giving my children their free cookie from the bakery. They always looked forward to that!

Community members have also shared many Paul's stories with me, including someone who told me working there was her "first ever" job when she was 14, and what an important milestone that was for her future.

In closing, the employees of Paul's have been a very steadfast part of my life, as well as the life of my family and have impacted this community in ways that they may never fully understand. I wish you all the very best, with all of my heart, and also offer my profound thanks for all that you have done for my family, as well as the community.

-- Kenda Schroeder,

Mountain Home