Hometown Proud: West Milton IGA
Many of us who grew up in small or medium-sized towns recall weekly trips with our parents to the local grocery store. In a time before mega-stores dominated the landscape, franchises like IGA, Super-Valu and Marsh, among others, made up the family food buying experience. A lot of these markets are still in operation.
Chasteen’s IGA in West Milton is one example of a family-run grocery store that fills a vital community need. The market at 1177 S. Main Street was once part of the Super-Valu chain, but changed to IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance) in the mid-1970s. Chasteen Properties acquired it as part of their holdings around 1999. It’s the only remaining full-service food store in this suburb north of Dayton. IGA’s corporate logo is Hometown Proud, and Chasteen’s market lives up to it.
The Gazette recently spoke with David Chasteen Sr., the longtime head of Chasteen Properties. “We bought it from a supplier, Superfoods,” he said. “It hadn’t had any attention for about ten years. The challenge was just kind of a rebuild, not only of the store, but the business. I was very actively involved in the day-to-day operations until about a year ago, when I retired. I still have a lot of contact with my son and daughter-in-law, who operate it.”
Chasteen revealed that the West Milton mainstay has consistently delivered when it comes to customer satisfaction, a fact that was verified not long ago. “Our business is pretty steady year-round, and we have a tremendous meat business. This year, we received our 25th consecutive 5-star rating from IGA. Twenty-five consecutive years. We’ve never missed a year. I don’t know of any other IGA retailer in the country who can say that. I’m sure worldwide there might be a handful.”
One of the reasons for the consistent quality and business might be attributed to another recent retiree, Russ Honeyman. He has been part of the local grocery scene since the late ‘50s and was a fixture in the West Milton store’s meat department beginning in 1964.
“I started way back in ’59 at Lofino’s new store in Huber Heights,” he said. “I lived on Iddings Road and was driving into Dayton every day to go to work. I stopped in the grocery store here and they were looking for a meat cutter. When the store was uptown, it was called Willard’s Market. Then, in the ‘60s, they moved to their current location. We were Super-Valu back then. Around ‘74 or ‘75, they sold the store and changed it to IGA. We went from self-service to service cases where you had to wait on the people like we do now.”
Honeyman’s experiences in the meat department evoke scenes reminiscent of Norman Rockwell’s Americana. “In the ‘60s, we didn’t have a cutting room or refrigerator like we do now. We just brought the meat out to the cutting table and people stood there and watched you cut it. They talked to you while you were cutting their steaks and told you how thick they wanted them. Back then, we had sawdust on the floor, too. In the 1970s, the health department made us do away with the wood block tables and replace them with plastic-type tables.”
He pointed out how retail trends have changed over the years. “When I started, you had big cash registers that had cranks on them. If the power went out you could still ring people up. We didn’t have conveyor belts where you put your groceries for checkout. For years, people would order a quarter side of beef to store in their freezer at home, and we’d cut it to order. Tuesday was the day they’d come in to pick it up, but they don’t do that anymore.”
Russ’s recollections of his time spent at the West Milton IGA demonstrate the prominent place it has occupied in the community. “When we had blizzards or heavy snow and it was difficult getting to the grocery store, people came in on snowmobiles and delivered groceries to their friends and neighbors. During COVID, when we shortened our hours and staffing, people stepped up to keep the store running. Folks from the community came in to help unload the truck when our food order arrived. We always had a lot of local produce growers, and in the summer, we’d buy produce from people who had big gardens. We still buy sweet corn from a local market and nursery in Phillipsburg.
“It seems like we’ve always been close-knit, like a family. I’m retired, but when they need someone to fill in at the store, I go back and help out. I just finished working in produce. Before I left this time, I saw all the old customers. I moved into town in 1947 and went to school here, so I just grew up with everybody around here. When they’d come into the store, I felt like a greeter at WalMart. You get to know everybody who walks in.”
And that’s hometown proud. Chasteen’s IGA is located at 1177 S. Main St., West Milton, Ohio. To see their weekly specials, go to their Facebook page.
