LUCAS — When Brant’s Meat Market, a Lucas business specializing in homemade bologna and sausages, announced it would be permanently closing earlier this year, the response the Brants received was overwhelming. The Facebook post announcing the store’s closing reached over 77,000 people, and the store was inundated with telephone calls and messages from customers hoping to get one last order in before they sold out.

Within that 77,000, were Adam and Ashley Comeau of nearby Plainville. Like thousands of others in the state, they were saddened to hear of another western Kansas landmark fading away. Natives of Rooks County, both had been to Brant’s Meat Market countless times on trips to Wilson Lake, or in passing to Interstate-70, and both felt this was one small town business too many—something should be done to keep it going. So the Comeaus made a few phone calls, got in touch with owner Doug Brant, and went to Lucas to learn more about why the family had made the difficult decision to close permanently.

“The store had been run by the Brant family in the same location for four generations—since 1922—and was named one of the ‘8 Wonders of Kansas Commerce.’ The history behind Brant’s Meat Market, and what it does for the community of Lucas, and the surrounding region, was too significant to watch it disappear without seriously asking ‘what can we do’ to keep it going,” said Adam. After the first meeting, he spent hours online researching the state regulations that were impeding the Brants from going about business as usual. He called the Kansas Department of Agriculture, met with Doug again, and even went so far as to meet with an inspector on-site to go over everything it would take to get the store reopened.

“We approached this from the beginning with the knowledge that it would be a challenge,” Ashley said. “Once we had a good understanding of what regulations the Brants were facing, Adam and I sat down together and ultimately decided this was definitely something we wanted to pursue.”

With the support of the Russell County Economic Development Loan Program and the NetWork Kansas E-Community Partnership, the Comeaus made the Brants an offer to purchase the business.

“We’re so fortunate that we’ve been able to take advantage of locally-administered loan funds. This is exactly what they were established for—to assist entrepreneurs and small businesses like Brant’s Market. We’re excited to work with Doug, his wife Linda, and their daughter Stephanie through the transition. Our goal is definitely to preserve the history and legacy of Brant’s; the recipes will be the same and the overall offering will be very similar.”

The Comeaus plan to reopen the store early this summer.

— Submitted