Food for Thought

Phillips Family IGA has served the community for six decades

Much has changed in the 60 years that Phillips Family IGA has served Hiseville and the surrounding communities. The family-owned grocery recently tripled in size, joined the Independent Grocers Association and added a website and mobile app to allow customers to log in, make lists and place pickup orders from home.

But the quality foods and customer service have remained the same since Clyde and Helen Phillips opened the store in 1960. “We knew that if we had to compete against the big boys with the supercenters and their buying power, we had to make improvements,” says Mike Phillips, who bought the store from another family member in 1999. “We had to expand our inventory and try to keep people from driving 10 or 12 miles to another town. We had to expand and start offering people everything that they can go to a big store and get.”

GROCERY GROWTH

Since Phillips took over the store, it has grown physically and with its expanded list of services. A renovation converted what was a 3,000-square-foot, smalltown, family market into a building featuring 10,000 square feet of shopping area. In addition to an in-store butcher shop where employees still cut meats to order, the store also features a deli and photo center.

“Our No. 1 draw is our meat department,” Phillips says. “A lot of big stores are doing away with local butchers. Their meat comes prepackaged. We cut our meats fresh every day.”

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are busy times for the store, especially its meat department, which sells Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams. “We have tons of country hams, and our rib-eyes are our primary sellers at Christmastime,” says Phillips, whose son, Trevor, is the store manager. “Those items and turkeys are our big, major items we do at Christmas. For a lot of people, they couldn’t get them somewhere else, so our butcher shop is really important. We have a reputation that goes all the way back to when it was started in 1960, and that reputation speaks for itself.”

But 60 years after opening, a reputation could only take the store so far. Becoming the 62nd store in IGA’s Nashville Division was one important step toward growth. Enlarging its footprint on East Main Street was another. The Phillips family continues to invest in updates, including new floors and lighting that give the store a combination of rustic charm and modern amenities.

“We want to be a family market that people know cares for their family,” Trevor Phillips says. So when COVID-19 hit, he began looking for ways to better serve customers, particularly those who are older.

He initiated curbside pickups and the capability to order online and by phone. Store employees then gather the goods. “We wanted people to feel safe when they come here,” he says. “Maybe they’re elderly and a little scared to come into the store, so we’re able to get their grocery list gathered and bring it curbside to them.”

Curbside pickup and remote ordering are expected to last beyond the pandemic as management focuses on offering the best shopping experience possible, including the ability to redeem digital coupons. It’s just part of being a family-owned grocery in a business large corporations and big-box stores often dominate in the 21st century.

Prime rib is a popular alternative for the holidays.

“You have to compete with them, so we do, and we carry a lot of things,” Trevor Phillips says. “If we don’t carry it, and people come to us and say, ‘Hey, are you able to get this?’, most of the time we’re able to get what they need, and they appreciate that. It keeps them coming back.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Sixty years as a fixture in Hiseville is a milestone worthy of a celebration. And as store manager Phillips points out, the employees are the heart of the store and also warrant celebrating. One employee, Loretta Garmon, has been with the store for 45 of its 60 years. The more than 20 other employees range from high school students to retirees embarking on second careers.

“We’re all in it for one another,” Trevor Phillips says. “And at the end of the day, we appreciate our customers and the loyalty they give to keep coming back to us.”

The Phillips family agrees that a blowout sale is on the horizon, even if COVID-19 put a damper on the anniversary celebration for the bulk of 2020. “The coronavirus kind of put us in a rough spot because of supplies of certain items we would run a sale on,” Mike Phillips says. “We anticipate doing something, even if it’s in 2021. We don’t know how elaborate it will be, but we’re going to do something.”

The Phillips family gathers for the holidays. Front row, from left, are store manager Trevor Phillips, butcher Dustin Phillips and owner Mike Phillips. Back row, from left, are Tiffani Bennett, River Phillips and office manager Kristin Childress.

Phillips Family IGA

67 E. Main St., Hiseville, Kentucky Online at phillipsiga.com Phone: 270-453-2641 Hours: 5:30 a.m.-8 p.m. MondaySaturday; 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday Store manager: Trevor Phillips

Customers can find a variety of packaged and whole hams from Clifty Farm, Harper’s and Penn’s.