Victoria ? The owner of a grocery store in a northwest Kansas town says he plans to reopen to serve the community’s residents.

Rick Weigel says he’ll open Rick’s Food Store in Victoria on Monday. He closed the store last November after buying another store in La Crosse, about 25 miles away. He says he is reopening after learning how important the store was to Victoria’s 1,200 residents.

The Hays Daily News reports that without the store, Victoria residents were driving to Hays or Russell for groceries.

Weigel has hired eight full- and part-time employees, including a store manager.