Part of their problem is that their prices are as high as places like Walmart. People will just go to Walmart and have more variety.
I live rural and people go there to pick up a few things rather than drive far to a Walmart or big box store.
Of the three big ones here in Jasper, Walmart is the cheapest, followed b Kroger and then Ingles. A new Publix is opening in a few months so we’ll see how that fits in the mix. We also have Dollar Tree and Dollar General but their stores are much smaller.