UPDATE: Ma & Pa's on the Miracle Mile Remains Open!

UPDATE!

This past week news broke that the famed Ma & Pa's Grocery Express gas station in Fond du Lac was going out of business. The news being a shock to Fondy was an understatement to say the least. The shear name recognition this place has is evident from the fact its closing was reported on TV in at least Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Madison, along with newspapers and blogs across the state.

Naturally, the closing of the store and 18 employees losing their jobs became news across the liberal blogosphere as further proof of how the Governor's budget is hurting Wisconsinites. I did my own write-up on the closing of the store here and I must admit that the shock of the news was still very much sinking in. One thing I didn't do though was implicate of Governor or state politics. The linking of the state of Wisconsin's fiscal and economic health being tied to this gas station is a bit of a stretch IMHO as this one came as such a shock many in town figured something must have happened. I'm not someone to defend the two-year biennium budget passed in 2011, not by a long shot, but saying it contributed to this gas station's closure is silly.

Well just when the dust had seemed to settle, news broke late Friday night that a local family who is already operating two gas stations in the area stepped up to the plate deciding to purchase the business. The report from the FDL Reporter is located here along with some interesting information about how the new owners have known for some time that the business was struggling. The news that the business is remaining open, and hopefully all 18 employees will get to keep their jobs is a positive story and exactly what we should see more of with small business people in Wisconsin.

I don't claim to be a journalist... I'm a blogger who tries to report things from my own point of view and get on my personal soap box to rant from time to time. That being said, people who read this blog deserve to have follow-up on stories, especially ones as widely reported as this one. Local small business owners helping out people and keeping an icon in their community. I like it...