Bobby's Grocery & BBQ located in Dysart at 305 Crisman Street pictured on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. The independent grocery store has been owned and operated by Bobby Torres since the summer of 2020. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

DYSART – It will be six years this summer since Bobby Torres moved from Texas with his family in order to take the reins at Dysart’s only independent grocery store, purchasing Terry’s Food Center and renaming it Bobby’s Grocery & BBQ. But in the wake of a string of financial difficulties, the store is now set to shutter.

Great fanfare surrounded Bobby and his wife at the time Sara Torres’s purchase of the business back in July 2020 as the grocery had been owned and operated for 50 years by Terry and Janet Trunck, making it an important fixture in the community.

“I think we really anticipated that finding a buyer for the store would be like finding a needle in a haystack,” Katherine Ollendieck, then-executive director of the Tama County Economic Development Commission, told the newspaper at the time of the 2020 sale. “A lot of people looked at the store and a lot of people walked away. A lot of people weren’t prepared to take on this kind of a challenge. And then Bobby and Sara came along.”

Unfortunately, running an independent grocery store in this modern era is no easy challenge, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

And then the dollar store came to town.

In the summer of 2024, Bobby and Sara spoke with the newspaper about the store’s financial difficulties.

“We can’t compete with Dollar General,” Bobby said in June 2024. “They were supposed to help us. Having a Dollar General here was supposed to help keep people in town. But now, we’re down $40,000 a month in revenue since they’ve been open. It’s gradually getting worse.”

Dysart’s Dollar General opened in December 2021. In addition to the increasing competition the new store presented, Bobby’s Grocery & BBQ also faced inflation difficulties and considerable debt by the summer of 2024.

Following a community fundraising drive that summer – trumpeted by this newspaper and area TV stations – the Torreses were able to raise enough money to keep the doors open, per reporting by KWWL. But the struggles continued and by late fall, KWWL was again reporting on Bobby’s Grocery & BBQ’s ability to remain open as foot traffic fell to a trickle, a fire took out the vegetable cooler, and profit margins languished.

Fast-forward to Feb. 24, 2026: “New hours / 9am to 6pm / Deli will still be open / 20 percent off all food in the store starting tomorrow,” Bobby’s Grocery & BBQ’s social media page declared in a graphic.

The store’s imminent closure appeared to be on the Facebook wall, leading commenter Whitney Etcher to ask, “Are you closing?” to which the store account replied, “Unfortunately, yes we are.”

As of press time, the newspaper had been in contact with Bobby by phone and was awaiting further response to a set of questions, including a timeline for the closure and his future plans. This story will be updated online if a response is received. For her part, Sara Torres told the newspaper she is no longer an owner “as of about nine months ago.”

Following the social media post on Feb. 24, the newspaper reached out to Nicole Taylor, President of the Dysart Chamber of Commerce, for comment regarding the impending closure.

“Bobby’s Grocery has been part of our community for many years, and we’re grateful for the role they’ve played in serving Dysart families,” she said in a statement. “Small-town grocery stores often operate on very thin margins and rely on consistent local support. When shopping habits shift outside the community, it can become difficult for those businesses to stay open. We’re grateful to Bobby and everyone who worked there and for the years they spent serving Dysart. Our hope now is that the location can find new life and continue serving the people of Dysart.”

Dysart Mayor Tim Glenn echoed Taylor’s comments in a statement of his own provided to the newspaper.

“Very sad to have our grocery store closing. Bobby’s and previously Terry’s have been a big part of the Dysart community for many years,” Glenn wrote. “Bobby and the store had survived through some tough times given COVID and a down economy since 2020. We all had hoped that as our economy improved that Bobby’s would start to thrive again. It will be tough not having our local grocery store anymore and Bobby’s wonderful BBQ. Hopefully there will be some interest in the location and [the business will] reopen in some form.”

With the closure of Bobby’s Grocery & BBQ, the nearest independent grocer for Dysart residents is Hometown Foods located some nine miles west in downtown Traer. The newspaper reached out to Hometown Foods store manager Meghan Renslow for her thoughts regarding the closure.

“Hometown Foods Traer has seen quite the increase in Dysart residents in the store in the past few weeks, with many of them reporting that Bobby’s Grocery was no longer getting deliveries of any sort, and they were going to be closing,” Renslow said in a text message exchange. “We took the rumors at face value, until a post on Facebook confirmed that the store will in fact be closing in the near future. We have begun the process of getting our weekly ads mailed to homes in the 52224 [Dysart] ZIP code, beginning with the ad starting on March 4. We want to make sure that Dysart residents are aware that they have a great local grocery option, just 10 minutes west down Hwy 8.”

On Monday, March 2, Bobby’s Grocery & BBQ posted new store hours: Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The store is now closed on Sundays. All stock remains 20% off. The deli has closed permanently.

“Thank you for all your support,” Bobby wrote at the bottom of the sign.