By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

NECK CITY, Mo. — For at least 40 years, residents of the Neck City area who needed groceries had to plan a trip to Joplin or Webb City.

No more. On April 27, the Neck City General Store opened for business, offering groceries, produce, some hardware and even ammunition.

“We want it to be a real general store, with a little bit of everything,” owner Mike Haase said of the store at Second and St. Louis streets.

The two-story block structure that houses the store was built in 1915, said Haase, who lives in nearby Alba. The former owners said a store operated there until the early 1960s.

Mayor Pat Gooch said he hopes the store will add to growth already under way in the small community in central Jasper County.

Excitement

“We’re really excited about it,” Gooch said. “We think it will help people in the city and the whole area.”

Gooch said he dropped by the store Wednesday and talked with other customers who said they like the store, especially Haase’s plans to offer fresh produce each Wednesday.

Haase said he sold out of fruit and tomatoes by noon Wednesday, but he still had some broccoli, squash, potatoes and onions.

“One woman told me it was a godsend, just to have something closer,” Haase said. “I’m going to try to help by keeping prices down. We want it to be a small-town store.”

He said he decided to open the business in Neck City “because I could get the building at a really good price, and I love small towns.”

Haase, who was born and raised in Joplin, said he hadn’t been to Neck City much before, but he likes “the town and the people” he has met so far.

“They like to stop in and talk; I like that,” he said.