Fear no more about the grocery store
Staff writer
Patrons of Peabody Market have something to celebrate after being concerned about the market’s impending closure at the end of May.
Cathy Gilley will be new owner and operator of the market beginning the first week in June.
Gilley has a bachelor’s degree in professional administration and a master’s in business administration. She is hanging her hat on an almost 13-year career working for the city of Wichita in the finance office to embark on this new adventure.
Current owner Mike Crow said he plans to assist Gilley throughout the passing of the torch.
“I’ll stick around for about a month to help her transition,” said Crow. “I’ll give her the formula for success.”
Once done with the market, Crow plans to devote his time to his 15-year career as a real-estate broker.
Gilley said she used to live outside of Peabody but moved to Wichita to be closer to her job about six years ago.
“Obviously, I’ll be moving back because of the store and the community,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Gilley’s Peabody ties lie with her boyfriend of two years, Darren Weems.
“He’ll be my support system for repairs,” she said. “I’m good on the people side and he’s good on the mechanical side.”
Gilley said there are many ideas about store changes floating around, but she isn’t ready to divulge anything quite yet. She does plan to keep everything as is for a while.
“I don’t have any thought to making any type of major changes right away,” she said. “Mike has a profitable business and does a great job. I want to be proactive and progressive, but don’t want to do it haphazardly.”
Gilley said she looks forward to the independence of working for herself and is optimistic about the opportunity to keep a grocery in Peabody.
“I work hard anyway, so it will be nice to know I’ll work hard for me and not somebody else,” she said. “I also want to do things to positively impact the community. It’s a project I can jump in with both feet. I’m bouncing off the walls with excitement. It will be a huge change, and it will be a good change.”