Onaga ? Residents of a small northeast Kansas town no longer have to make a 50-mile roundtrip drive for groceries.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the Onaga Country Market was opening Thursday. The Pottawatomie County town of 700 has been without a grocery store since an overnight fire destroyed Nider’s Thriftway last December.

Pam Budenbender and her husband, Paul, live in Shawnee and own a farm north of Onaga where they spend many weekends.

Pam Budenbender says her retirement plan was to open a grocery store in Onaga. She says her husband purchased several lots in the town a few years ago so she could someday realize that goal.

The grocery benefited from low-interest rural development loans. Plus, the Onaga City Council agreed to allocate $375,000 toward the 7,500-square-foot building.