Gillette Supermarket Owners Save Wright Grocery Store

Last year ended on a bad note for Wright residents when it was announced in mid-December that Don’s Supermarket, the town’s only grocery store, would close.

But 2018 is off to a great start with an announcement that the store re-opened Thursday under new ownership.

Troy and Cathy McKeown, who have owned Don’s market in Gillette since 2008, bought the Wright Don’s on Dec. 23.

Troy said the decision to buy the store wasn’t an easy one to make, but it was something he felt compelled to do.

“(Wright) needed a grocery store, and it was available,” he said.

Now Wright residents won’t have to make the 80-mile round trip to Gillette to do their grocery shopping.

McKeown said that although the store is under new ownership, everything else should stay the same, adding that he’s most excited to help out the community and the employees who had faced unemployment.

Wright Mayor Ralph Kingan said he was surprised that the McKeowns were able to reopen the store so quickly. He stopped by the Wright Don’s on Thursday to thank them, especially for rehiring the 14 workers who had lost their jobs when the store closed.
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“He hired all the employees back. That made me really happy,” he said. “That’s a big help in the town.”

-- Written by Jonathan Gallardo, originally published 1/5/18 in the Gillette News Record