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Country Shopping for Modoc Country Living
Retail shopping options while enjoying country living in Modoc County, California are adequate but somewhat limited. They are particularly limited if compared to some of the mega malls in more populated urban or suburban areas. With the exception of the Rite Aid drugstore that opened in Alturas in late 2005, there are no large franchise retail outlets in Modoc County. I don't know about other folks, but I would rather suffer some minor limitations on shopping than continue to fight crowds and congestion at a super mall.
I've found that the limitations on goods available in rural country stores are more limitations on variety and quantity than on prices. Of course, prices are slightly higher in smaller rural stores than in larger ones simply because larger outlets can buy in bigger quantities, thus lower inventory costs and retail prices. However, the retail price differences are not as great as one might think. When my wife and I first started searching for a less congested and less expensive area to live than Ramona in southern California, we did a lot of research on where we might be comfortable living. Part of that research was the cost of shopping for staples. My method of research was to select certain models for goods and services as a baseline, then compare them to prices of like items in other areas we were interested in. I selected gasoline, taxes, real estate and insurance among a few others. One of the models I used was a shopping basket of groceries: gallon of milk, dozen eggs, and a loaf of bread. The price of the shopping basket for Alturas was within a few cents of the baseline.
While nearly all population centers in the county have at least a convenience-style store for groceries, the only true supermarket is in Alturas, the county seat. The Alturas Holiday Market is part of a chain of 23 small to medium sized neighborhood supermarkets located throughout northern California. The chain is locally owned and headquartered in Cottonwood, in the northern end of the Sacramento Valley. The store offers fresh produce, quality meats, bakery items, canned goods and beer, wine and spirits. The selections are very good and prices are competitive with grocery stores in more populated areas. Alturas also has two other good grocery stores, 4-Corners Market and the smaller Walt's Market. There is also a specialty grocery market for Mexican foods in Alturas. Centrally located Cedarville is probably the largest center for shopping in Surprise Valley in the eastern part of the county. Surprise Valley has four outlets for grocery shopping, three in Cedarville and one in Eagleville. Page's Market in Cedarville is a fairly large full service grocery. Cedarville Grocery offers groceries, and the Surprise Valley Natural Foods Cooperative provides alternative style shopping and foods. Jack's General Store & Café is probably the retail center of Eagleville in the southern end of Surprise Valley, near the border with Nevada. Davis Creek Mercantile near the border with Oregon on U.S. highway 395 provides limited grocery shopping for the northeast part of Modoc County. About the only other stores in the county that offer foodstuffs are convenience style stores in Adin and Newell, plus food items that can be found in larger service station convenience stores.
All roads again lead to Alturas when shopping for clothing and apparel in Modoc County. From women's apparel at the Classy Lassie/Calico Cow to western style wear for the entire family at L&B Ranch Supply, most of your clothing shopping can be completed in Alturas. There is a J. C. Penney catalog store and payment center at Seab's on Main Street. There is limited clothing apparel at stores in Cedarville, Eagleville, and Adin, and the Adin Supply Company also offers a line of popular camouflage hunting apparel. A practice you might find unique while shopping in Modoc County is that some merchants combine different product lines. The practice makes sense for this rural area with such a small customer base. For instance, In Alturas, Seab's is a center for many retail lines. In addition to the advertised main product line of True Value hardware and lawn equipment sales and repair, the store offers Radio Shack electronics and Dish satellite TV, telephone equipment and a cellular phone service center, and many other household items.
Phillips Appliance in Alturas is probably the largest appliance dealer in the county, and offers a full line of Whirlpool and Maytag product sales, installation and service. About the only other option for appliance shopping for Modoc County residents, other than used items, is the Internet. We believed before moving to the area, and found it to be true that Internet access is almost mandatory in a rural country living environment. If the merchandise you are looking for isn't available locally, Internet shopping for goods and services is about your only option unless you want to travel 2-3 hours for your shopping.
There are only two stores in the county when shopping for auto parts and supplies, and both are NAPA outlets owned by the same local family. Modoc Motor Parts in Alturas and Surprise Valley Parts in Cedarville offer the full line of NAPA products plus other auto, truck and tractor parts. They can also refer you to other professionals for major engine rebuilding and machine shop work.
There is only one auto dealership in Modoc County, locally-owned Carsten's Motors in Alturas. Carsten's handles the full line of GM vehicles, plus full service and also offers RV sales. The closest Ford dealership for sales and service is
Dan Collins Ford
in Lakeview, Oregon, about an hour north of Alturas on U.S. 395. As a Ford owner, I can personally recommend Collins Ford for service and true personalized care. A stop at Collins for service is mighty refreshing compared to the maize and wait time you have to go through at the large city dealerships. We have also found that their new car prices are equal to and often cheaper than many northern and central California mega-dealerships. In addition to a car dealership, a major auto parts store, and four fairly large service stations, Alturas also has two full service tire retailers. The tire stores offer general auto repair work in addition to selling tires and wheels. Alturas also has a few smaller auto repair shops, one or two oil change businesses and a full service auto body shop, Pioneer Auto Body. Pioneer provides complete collision repair, quality painting and 24-hour towing. For small engine repair and service, your best bet is Modoc Engines in Alturas.
Alturas has two drug stores that can fill all prescriptions and honors most insurance plans. Rite Aid opened in late 2005 and in addition to prescription drugs and other pharmacy items, offers everything from plants, gardening supplies and general house ware to books, printer supplies and beer, wine and spirits. They also have the standard Rite Aid drive-through pharmacy. Alturas Pharmacy (formerly Brown's Alturas Pharmacy) has what any old-time small town drugstore would be expected to have (except a soda fountain!). They sell cards and gifts, vitamins and supplements, prescription and over-the-counter drugs and provide very personalized service. The only banking options in Modoc County are the three full service bank branches in Alturas. The three are Bank of America and US Bank branches and a locally owned Plumas Bank branch. Although Plumas Bank corporate headquarters are in Quincy, Plumas County, California, its branches are limited to northeastern California, so we consider it a local bank. Alturas and Cedarville both have adequate shopping opportunities for your day-to-day country living. Florists and gift shops, book stores and computer repair, and beauty and barbershops are available in either town. These stores, plus craft stores, insurance agents, notaries and bookkeeping services are probably also available in most locales in the county, but you may have to look around for them a little. Modoc Business Supply on Main Street in Alturas has computer and printer supplies and about anything you'll need for your home office, plus cards, books and crafting items. The Belligerent Duck on Main Street in Alturas is a must stop for anyone traveling to Modoc County, and offers high-end gifts, many representing the local culture. The Belligerent Duck also has an extensive stock of firearms, hunting and fishing equipment and licenses for the sportsman. Another store in Alturas catering almost exclusively to the sportsman is the Sports Hut. Like anywhere else in the country, the antiques and collectables trend has caught on in Modoc County. There are quite a few antique shops in Alturas and Cedarville and scattered throughout the county, and of course if you're looking for real antiques and collectables, local yard sales are the place to look. In sum, to enjoy Modoc country living, you have to be able to enjoy a slower pace of shopping. Remember, you won't find the large malls and warehouse discount stores here that are abundant in urban or suburban areas. There are no franchise retail stores like K-Mart, Target or (much to my wife's displeasure) Mervyn's in Modoc County, California. You have to enjoy boutique shopping for clothing and apparel, country store style grocery shopping and you have to enjoy not fighting crowds and congestion. You also have to enjoy shopping in stores where friendly staff greets you by your first name! Slightly less variety, slightly higher prices when shopping, and a mandatory shopping trip to Reno, Nevada for a getaway weekend every couple of months. Enjoy Modoc country living! Follow this link for more assistance in finding the right merchant for your
shopping.
For further help in locating a Modoc County merchant, click on the
Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Directory
or the
Alturas-Modoc Chamber of Commerce Business Directory.
If all else fails, you can always check the
Frontier Yellow & White Pages.
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Family Footwear offers a full line of shoes and footwear, as well as dry cleaning, photo refinishing and a UPS pick-up point. Frank's Carpet & Furniture is the U. S. Cellular phone center for the area as well as offering flooring and carpet, furniture, window coverings, vacuum cleaner accessories and bedding accessories.
