Running a mountain town's only grocery store

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/3zeF6Ch Darlene and Mark, a married couple, have owned and operated the Silverton Grocery Store for 34 years. It has been the town's sole grocery store since 2000. Both are lifelong Silverton residents. When the mining industry shut down in the 1980s, Mark lost his job. The town’s population shrank from 900 year-round residents to about 600 as the jobs dried up. The Watsons were among those who left. But Silverton called them back. Determined to make a living without relying on mining, Darlene had an idea: “Why don’t we open a grocery store?” In 1989, they opened their first grocery store at a different location on Greene Street, Silverton’s main thoroughfare. Later, when the owner of Greene Street Grocery decided to sell, Darlene and Mark seized the opportunity, rebranding it as the Silverton Grocery Store. Read more: https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/community... ------------------------------------------------------ Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too. • Newsletter: https://www.rmpbs.org/newsletter/ • Facebook:   / rmpbs   • Instagram:   / rmpbs   • LinkedIn:   / rocky-mountain-pbs