GROCERY STORES, RATINGS CHANGE MUCH OVER YEARS

A headline on a July 17 item in the Southeast Missourian stated, "Missouri gets high fiscal marks." Although many states are facing money problems, three national bond rating agencies have given Missouri high financial marks.

The state has received a AAA credit rating. That means investment companies consider Missouri bonds a good risk.

Gov. John Ashcroft said, "Missouri was one of seven states getting top rating from Moody's Investment Service, Standard & Poor's Corp., and Fitch Investors Service."

This was good to hear. Missouri, a pioneer state, taken into the United States in 1803 when the Louisiana Purchase was finalized and confirmed as a state in August 1821, has accomplished wonders over the past 188 years.

Looking back, we, as residents of Southeast Missouri, are aware of many of the changes that have brought about the triple A rating.

It has been said that women hold the purse strings in a family. That may or may not be factual, but at least women do most of the food buying and they have noticed a difference in marketing. During the early years of this century and until about the middle of this century, grocery stores were smaller, and there was not the variety that's displayed in today's stores.

All of the food was not packaged or wrapped as it is today. Now, it is cleaner, safer and easier to handle. Stores were usually locally owned, and the neighborhood grocer was almost a member of the family, because he was interested in his customers, knew their names and wanted to please those who patronized him.

He would inquire about members of a family, even a pet, and when the monthly bill was paid he sent a sack of candy or a bag of cookies in appreciation of the prompt payment. He did the same at Christmas. There was a personal touch connected with doing business in Missouri.

There was a similar interest in large businesses in the state where the personal touch was evident also, especially at Christmas, or when a member of the firm was in trouble. This is what made Missouri unique. As a pioneer state, it was settled not by wealthy immigrants, but by hard working, industrious individuals who knew the value of friendships and tried not to abuse them. In most cases, their word was as good as a bond in writing. Unfortunately, that factor can not be relied upon today. Modern values seemed to have changed with the times but in many areas there is a trend to reinstate some of the old.

The emphasis today is on Big. The small family owned businesses have almost disappeared. This is especially true in the grocery business. Schapers IGA in Jackson is the remaining locally owned grocery store in the area.

The store's supplies are obtained from Wetterau in Scott City. Lester Maevers and his sons, operate the business. Maevers is president of the business.

He was president of the Missouri Grocery Association in 1989, and a member of the board for 10 years. The late Arthur M. Fischer of Cape Girardeau also served as president of this association as did Melvin Lichtenegger of Jackson. This state association is large and the yearly conventions have an attendance of several thousand. The next meeting will be at Tan-Tar-A, Oct. 18-20. The association's headquartered at Springfield.

The old-time grocery store was a simple operation as were other businesses that served the public. The stores were not air-conditioned and electrically operated and hence did not have monthly electric bills of $8,200 or more.

They did not have grocery carts, that the public often abuses, that today cost at least $100 each and last about three to five years depending upon how they are treated. The shelves now hold thousands of items, everything a housewife would think necessary to keep house, besides books, magazines, school supplies, garden equipment, some clothing and much more.

We can only imagine what a pioneer woman would think if she walked into a modern grocery store. The variety of items, the prices, the size of the stores, and the general operation would confound her. A new grocery store being erected in Cape Girardeau will cost more than $6 million.

But despite the changes in packaging of food, the initial price of food has not changed. It is the extras that make the grocery bill high.