The Corner Store celebrates $10,000 grant to enhance business

The owners of The Corner Store at 439 Broadway in Cape Girardeau celebrated with local chamber and business entities Monday, Oct. 14, to recognize them receiving a national grant to renovate the business.

Robert and Mary Gentry were among 500 small-business owners across the country given $10,000 apiece as part of the Backing Small Businesses grant program. The program is offered through Main Street America and presented by American Express.

Having been chosen for the grant in June, the Gentrys have since used it to add an outdoor sign and a bright red door for curb appeal. They also added new LED lighting, a souvenir stand and additional food items inside their store.

“When you’re fortunate to get a grant like that, one of the most important things you want to address is your inventory, because being able to purchase inventory today is better than making that purchase tomorrow. The increase only goes up,” Robert Gentry said.

The Corner Store sells fresh lunches, canned goods and sweets. The Gentrys have owned it for 18 years.

Lloyd Williams and Brock Freeman, president and vice president of the Multicultural Business Development Alliance (MBDA), helped the couple acquire the grant. Freeman said he first heard about it on a Thursday in April, with the application deadline coming up that following Monday. He and Williams worked with the Gentrys on that Saturday to submit their application.

“We told the story of The Corner Store. We told the story of how they got started, how involved they are in the community and how this money would help facilitate them continuing to do what they do here in Cape Girardeau,” Freeman said.

Williams and Freeman helped form the MBDA earlier this year to support the development of minority-owned businesses in the Southeast Missouri region.

“We were really fortunate that the MBDA … helped secure the grant for us and we’re hoping it continues our growth and allows up to continue serving the Cape Girardeau area,” Robert Gentry said.

The Backing Small Businesses grants went to small businesses in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Eighteen of the businesses are located in Missouri, giving it more representation than all but six other states.

First launched in 2021, the grants were originally designed to help small-business owners recover from coronavirus-related lockdowns. They have since provided more than $9 million to 1,180 different business owners.