“I just decided to cut the losses now and see what the good Lord may have in store for me,” he said. “I just couldn’t see it growing in the immediate future to what I needed, even coming back to past levels, with the business that is being attracted downtown.”
Holzberger said he plans to take the next 10 days to sort out the store’s inventory for area organizations, including social agencies and church groups.
The lifelong Hamilton resident said he started the business as a Christmas store in 1999 on South Third Street then moved it to Court Street nine months later for a little more than two years before moving to High Street in 2004.
In 2005, when “big box” stores such as Walmart and Meijer started to eat away at the bottom line, Holzberger turned the business into a convenience store, also running a security office and detective business out of the location. Don McCoy shared the rent with Holzberger, maintaining a bail bonds business at the storefront until 2010 before selling it to another bond company, Holzberger said.
Holzberger Convenience Store sold various items, including tobacco products, canned goods, bread, toiletries, milk, ice cream, soft drinks, hot dogs, soft pretzels and pizza by the slice. But when the recession struck in 2008, it “decimated the food business.”
Also a factor was the closure of two paper mills and other Hamilton businesses, which led to a loss of foot traffic and a drop in revenue for the convenience store and other downtown merchants, he said.
Holzberger said he’s been “wrestling” with the idea of closing the store for the past year but a combination of the economy and his wanting to spend more time with his wife and family eventually ended up as the deciding factors.
He said his next move may include writing a book about his experiences.
Don Ryan, the owner of next door business Ryan’s Tavern, said Holzberger is one of the few people who kept a small, family-owned business open downtown for years when economic times got tough.
”He probably gave more stuff away than he sold, I’m guessing,” Ryan said. “He’s kindhearted and always was reaching out to help people. You could just see that by the posters he put on his window, always missing people in Hamilton or this fundraiser or that.”
“He’s just a good person and cares a lot about the people and a lot about the city,” he said.
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