RAWLINS, Wyo. — Jim Chiro’s idea for a Medicine Bow grocery store evolved from a whim to raise bison.
“I was bored and watching a show on the Discovery Channel about bison,” said the 43-year-old Orlando, Fla., resident. “I figured Ted Turner does it, it’s nutritious and so I looked up (information) on it.”
Chiro needed to find land for the venture, a search that led him to Medicine Bow’s website in the summer of 2009.
“I researched the town online and found (DKRW’s proposed) coal and gasoline purification plant and looked up property on Craigslist,” Chiro said.
Karen Heath, town clerk and treasurer, said she fields similar inquiries once or twice a month, but it’s only about twice a year someone actually follows through and moves.
Chiro visited Medicine Bow in the summer of 2009, shortly after the town’s centennial.
Chiro said he fell in love with the beauty, isolation and friendliness of the town the 2000 U.S. census pegs at 274 people.
“It’s a more laid-back atmosphere. People are warm and welcoming. You can have a 30- or 40-minute conversation with someone (on the street),” he said.
He purchased 40 acres near the Cassidy River Ranch. After asking around and researching property values, Chiro decided to purchase additional property in the Dolling Subdivision, a development set up in the early 1980s.
Heath said if Chiro builds on the property, he’ll be the first occupant of Montana Court.
While touring the area, Chiro said he started thinking about running a grocery store, an idea he bounced off of a local restaurateur.
“I was talking with the owner in the Dip Diner and asked him if he’d buy produce and hamburger buns locally if they were available,” Chiro said. “Some people (joined the conversation) and told me about the old grocery store.”
The Bow Market, the old store that closed years ago, was located at 218 Lincoln Highway. Because of the price of real estate and DKRW’s proposed Medicine Bow Fuel and Power project, Chiro said he expects a boom in the town.
His proposed store, Green Grocer LLC, would be housed in the old Bow Market building and be what he called a Christian-based company.
“A lot of my upbringing is that. No liquor or tobacco at the store, (and) we’d be closed on Sundays,” Chiro said. “And there are too many permits involved anyway.”
Chiro said he’s purchased a house in Medicine Bow and plans to commute to Cheyenne for his remaining two years as a Homeland Security employee.
He plans to run the store part-time for now and full-time upon retirement.
As for the bison, Chiro said he’d have to wait until spring to fence off his property.
“The ground is too hard, and I can’t dig a hole yet,” Chiro said. “I have to have an 8-foot fence along the property. They can jump 6 feet. Did you know that?”
