WAKULLA COUNTY, FL — St. Marks is considered a food desert, with all of its population living more than 10 miles from the nearest supermarket or large grocery store. Bo Lynn's Grocery has served as a critical food resource for neighbors in town.
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Bo Lynn's Grocery has served the St. Marks community for almost 90 years, opening in 1936. After 85 years, it closed in 2021, leaving neighbors without a nearby food source and forcing them to travel dozens of miles to get groceries.
According to the USDA, a food desert exists when at least 500 persons or at least 33% of a rural area's population lives more than 10 miles from a supermarket or large grocery store. When Bo Lynn's closed, neighbors had to drive at least 15 miles to reach a store, with the closest option roughly a 20-minute drive away.
The closure also impacted the community beyond food access.
Neighbor Lee Miller said, "It was a time where we were struggling just trying to have places to meet, communicate, and socialize. This is a big social part of our environment here, which is very important for the city of St. Mark's."
The current owner reopened Bo Lynn's in 2023, and it has been thriving since.
Neighbor Chuck Harper says having a store with necessities close by makes a difference.
"It's nice to have a smaller establishment to go into, to be able to get your staple needs, having one closer, where Crawfordville is roughly six, eight miles away. It's a little further to drive, where over here you can come down here and get if you had stuff you need," Harper said.
When Bo Lynn's came back, the convenience and the community returned with it.
"It was a big, big step in this community to put everything back together in this community," Miller said.
The owner recently thanked the community for their support, saying:
"We are so grateful to the community for their support and rallying behind us when we opened Bo Lynn's. They're the reason we're still here 3 years later and we're so thankful to do life here in St. Marks," Rani Richardson said in a statement.
Bo Lynn's will celebrate three years since its reopening this Sunday at 1 p.m.
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