UPDATE:CLAY COUNTY GETTING A GROCERY STORE

(06/19/2015)
UPDATE - Clay is getting a new grocery store.

The county's only full-service grocery Piggly Wiggley had closed.

The new store will be called the Clay IGA.

No information when it will open.

Clay County's only grocery store closes
By Jake Jarvis for the Charleston Gazette

CLAY 5/26/15— When Ashley Owens' husband came home one night this week, he asked the same thing so many do after work: "What's for dinner?"

Owens, a 34-year-old mother of three, lives in the Clay County town of Clay. She didn't have a chance to drive the 34 miles one way to stock up on groceries that night because she had to pick up her kids from school. But she had a frozen pizza.

"Only one?" he asked.

Only one.

A few weeks ago, Piggly Wiggly, Clay County's only grocery store, closed its doors. Inside, fluorescent lights still burn. Through dusty windows, nonperishable goods like paper towels and dish soap still line the shelves.

To get fresh produce or meat, families like the Owens now have to drive all the way to Smith's Foodland, in Clendenin, or the 46 miles to Flatwoods.

Clay is home to less than 500 people, but about 9,000 live across the county, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

There are some stores in Clay that carry food, like a Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and a GoMart, but residents say that isn't enough. People in the area depended on Piggly Wiggly for the bulk of their food needs. The store now sits lifeless at 2200 Main Street....

READ REST OF STORY Clay County's only grocery store closes By Jake Jarvis for the Charleston Gazette