WILMORE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Fitch's IGA has been serving the Wilmore community for over 65 years. Owner Leonard Fitch also runs a deli inside the store called Leonard's Kitchen, which is popular for breakfast and lunch.
Fitch, 83, still pretty much does it all around the grocery store. He may get around a little differently than he did 65 years ago, but his motivation to keep going remains the same.
"We want to have quality product available, all the time," says Fitch, "I want to do something for my neighbors and friends. I enjoy them so much."
He enjoys the community Fitch's IGA has helped provide all these years.
Being a grocer is in his blood.
"Since 1836, they've been grocers. From one generation to the other," Fitch says of his family.
His mom and dad started an IGA in New York and then moved the business -- and the family -- to Wilmore when Leonard was a child.
"We were from upstate New York, and my mother and dad moved here with six children, with the intent of us going to Asbury, which most of us did."
Leonard had a literal hand in building the current Fitch's IGA location.
"This particular building, we built ourselves. I even jack-hammered," he said laughing.
Aside from people doing their typical grocery shopping at the store, there is also the deli in the back, Leonard's Kitchen, which is where people can grab a bite to eat.
"That's pot pie. And this is fresh fried chicken. We got potatoes, broccoli, green beans," Leonard says as he goes down the line of hot food ready for the day.
"I do fry the chicken every day," he said.
People start showing up early in the morning.
"They come in at 7 in the morning, and sit in this area we're sitting in, and visit, and it just feels really, really neat," he says.
What it feels like is community; the whole reason Leonard -- and generations before him -- started this in the first place.
"We wanted to be the friendliest place. We do all we can to make it that way."
It continues to be his motivation, after 65 years, to keep moving forward.
