Blain's Farm & Fleet

Blain's Farm & Fleet is a locally rooted retailer that has built real expertise in the local shopper, blending hometown values with current service. A family tradition of fiscal conservatism and reinvestment in its own stores puts it in formidable competition with the deep-pocketed New York private equity firm that now owns Mills.

The contrast is the story. Mills, owned by KKR, answers to investors — pension funds, retirement funds, endowments, insurance companies and wealthy individuals — and operates on leased land and buildings, with decisions driven by profit rather than by shoppers or the community. Blain's, still family-owned, answers to its customers.

Its record makes the case: over $300k in toys donated to local charities in a single year, support for local FFA and 4-H, contributions to the American Heart Association at national level, pet adoptions, active engagement with veterans' organisations, and involvement in countless local community events — a genuine commitment to the community that has been its home for generations.