Phyllis Fannin, 74, said there were three grocery stores in Jeffersonville when she was growing up. Today there’s just one.
For decades the one grocery store was called Detty’s Market but it was re-named “Winner’s Jeffersonville Market” this week after it was transferred to new ownership.
The family-and-locally-owned grocery store was sold Tuesday from the Detty family to the Winner family, who live near Mechanicsburg.
Jeffersonville residents reacted to the sale of Detty’s Market this week with some shock but not all were surprised. Fannin said she heard a rumor the grocery store was going to be sold a few months ago. This was big news in the rural village with a population of less than 1,500 residents: The next closest grocery store is about a 15-minute drive to the next town.
The Jeffersonville grocery store is where Fannin buys weekly groceries and daily newspapers. Fannin said it’s a place of convenience for the village’s older residents.
“I like it because I don’t have to drive to the nearest store,” said Fannin.
And as some people who patron the store daily are from the small village, like local business owner Melody Matthews, there are others who come from as far as Springfield and Bainbridge to shop the store’s monthly meat sale.
On the first of the month the store has a 10 pound meat sale. Matthews purchases bacon, chicken and steaks from the grocery store for her nearby cafe, Outside the Box. She said the grocery store is convenient because it’s just one block from her cafe.
Upon hearing the grocery store had been sold, Matthews said, “I’m a little bit shocked. The news came from nowhere, but if you think about it, 30 years is a long time to operate a grocery store and it’s time to take a break and rest.”
Another Jeffersonville resident, Jim Downing, is a regular customer at the grocery store. He said the grocery store has the best meat in the entire county.
“If you want chops or steaks a certain way, all you have to do is call Dan (Maxie) and he’ll make it for you. He’s there to serve,” said Downing.
According to Downing, “Dan is the best damn meat man in the land.”
Dan Maxie has worked at the store for 39 years. Maxie said the store’s new owners are “very nice.”
“They’re very conscientious about the community. That’s what I picked up off of them,” said Maxie.
Downing, who was at Outside the Box Cafe this week drinking a cup of coffee along with Fannin, Matthews, and locals Ashley Bettle, Donald Davidson, and Jeff Creamer, reflected on the sale of Detty’s Market.
“I hope the Winners’ name becomes a community staple as much as the Dettys’ family name has been,” said Downing. “The Detty family has always supported everything in the community, all of the organizations, and not only in the community but in the county.”
The Detty family supported the Lion’s Club with the donation of fireworks, recalled Downing, as well as the Fayette County Fair, 4-H clubs, boy scouts, little league and softball.
“The Detty’s name has been a household name in the community for years,” said Downing.”In all seriousness, Detty’s has been a good fit for the community and they’ve helped people out. Jeff Detty got good teachings from his dad (Ralph) in the business.”
Fannin reminisced that before the grocery store was in its current location on West High Street, it was in a building beside the railroad tracks.
“At that time, it was called Jeff Royal Blue, short for Jeffersonville Royal Blue. It was just a little store. You walked in and the bread was on one side. It had just two cash registers, I think,” said Fannin.
The Winner family owns and operates three other small independent grocery stores in Ohio. With the purchase of their fourth store in Jeffersonville the family said they hope to continue the store just as the Detty family did and mix their own knowledge into the structure of the current business.
As the store transitions into new ownership, the locals said they don’t think it will change much but would like to see what the new owners can do.
For local Renee Taylor, the store will always be remembered as “Detty’s.”
“I shop here about every day. I’m more than happy to welcome the new owners but it’ll always be Detty’s to me. I worked there as a teenager,” Taylor said.
