'Good Interest' Shown in Johnny's Market Building

If you ever wanted to own your own grocery store, Will Aschinger of the Hilliker Corporation has a deal for you. You'll have all the checkout lanes to yourself. No waiting. No limit on the number of items allowed.

Aschnger is the real estate agent showing the former Johnny's Market grocery store building to prospective buyers. The property, located at 11555 Gravois Road in Sappington, is 20,693 square feet in area and is on a 2.43-acre site.  

Aschinger views his role in the sale of Johnny's as the sale of a local landmark. The store had been in business for 68 years, first opening its doors when owners John and Adel Loeffelman started the store in 1944. the small, neighborhood grocery featured a variety of local produce and other foods. Daughter Debbie Loeffelman, John and Adel's daughter, ran the business for the past 35 years.

"The store was my entire life and closing it was very emotional for me," Loeffelman said. "The traditional grocery is gone because you can gte food anywhere now."

Selling the old store has been difficult, Loeffelman said, adding that it's in a "great neighborhood with wonderful people."

But the decision was made last October to close up shop and sell the building.

Which is where Aschinger comes in.

He said interest in the grocery store building has been good, although no grocery store operators are in the mix of potential buyers, likely because the food coolers and refrigeration units already have been sold. That fact may make the building more attractive to prospective buyers who would have had to pay to have the old equipment removed, an expense that now is unnecessary.

"We've had good interest in the site," Aschinger said. It should sell in the near future."

So far, Acshinger said a non-profit organization has expressed interest in the building, as has a redeveloper who would start a retail operation.

The Johnny's Market building is located on a tract of land at a busy intersection and is bordered by Gravois, Denny and Sappington roads.

And it can be yours, checkout lanes and all, for $1.4 million.