Main streets are vanishing across rural America. Made in America is near extinction. Travel anywhere in South Arkansas and you'll likely see what was once a booming community, now a shell of empty buildings.
Today we bring you a hidden treasure in Cleveland County.
As our mission of truth continues to light our path, we focus on the positive fixtures that remain as a beacon of hope in rural America – American-owned and operated businesses like Rison's Shopwise independent grocery store.
Allan Collins is your old-school, small town grocer.
The kind you saw on "Leave it to Beaver", "Petticoat Junction" or "Green Acres" growing up.
Collins will pop out from the back of the store, wearing a butcher's apron, and ready to help customers.
Rison, population around 1,000, is lucky to have its Shopwise grocery store, which is owned by Collins. As more and more small towns lose independent grocery stores to big corporate boxes, a walk down Rison's sidewalk to the end of Main Street will take you to our featured destination.
Dollar Generals have taken over a large segment of rural America and the needs of community shoppers. In many small towns, the yellow and black Dollar General sign is all that remains for food.
Other towns like Sheridan have lost their grocery store, The Mad Butcher, last year leaving the town with only a Walmart Supercenter and an independent locally-owned butcher shop.
Collins told the Reckoning he worked at the Rison grocery store when it was Cranford's. When the owner decided to sell in 2019, Collins bought it to keep it alive.
He sees his store as critically viable because its the only WIC provider in Cleveland County.
"You can start right there but you need a community store," Collins said. "But you also need a community store because people live here and the store gives people that sense of its my store. I live here. I shop here."
Collins also stressed that his store is 100% American owned.
"You need locally-owned stores in these communities," he said. "I'm not knocking Dollar General because so many little communities lost every store and that's all they have now. If they don't they have to drive an long way."
Collins has been in the grocery business for 41 years and he's seen a lot of changes.
"You used to could buy a grocery store like this and come out really good but now the costs...insurance is four times what it was when I bought it."
Still, Collins is hanging in even against a Goliath like Walmart.
"I keep my prices pretty much in line," he said. "I'm killing it when it comes to meat and produce. If you didn't have the experience [in the grocery business] just no way these days."
Far from overwhelming like a box store supercenter, Shopwise has only one focus for customers – food. The meat department features fresh butchered meat along with whole chickens, plump roasts and country style ribs.
Fresh peanuts in the hull? They are in Rison.
Backer's chips are made in Fulton, Mo., and have been since 1931 when the company started during the Great Depression. Read about them here. Buy their chips in Rison.
The store is more than just a place to buy groceries. Friends and neighbors see each other in the aisles and catch up. Shop at the right time and you can hear a train roaring past on the nearby tracks – a reminder that Rison was once a railroad town.
For this small South Arkansas town, Shopwise is an anchor.
"The Shopwise grocery store in Rison is vital to our community," Rison Mayor Charles Roberts said. "They deliver quality products at competitive prices. The management is willing to special order items that are hard to find even in larger markets. The staff are always friendly and ready to assist in locating things on your shopping list. Shopwise are exceptionally helpful to our elderly citizens. They provide curbside assistance and payment.Their hours are convenient, opening 7 a.m. til 8 p.m. in the evening. Rison is blessed to have this hometown store and friendly staff."
