CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Brothers Nabin, Prabin and Chandra Khadka are the new owners of Hometown Foods in Conrad.

CONRAD — Rural areas are at risk of becoming food deserts. But brothers Nabin, Prabin and Chandra Khadka wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to Conrad. They have entered into a purchase agreement with Hometown Capital Group, the current owners of the Hometown Foods store at 119 N. Main St., and will take possession the first week in April.

In 2023, the brothers opened University Market on the eastside of Des Moines — a part of town in a Hispanic neighborhood they say is underserved for groceries, ethnic foods, medications and pet supplies. They also own Waukee Liquor & Food Mart.

Nabin, who resides in West Des Moines, said he and his family know what it’s like to go without life’s essentials. His ancestral home is Bhutan.

“It wasn’t even called Bhutan at that time. It was open land. So they migrated there. They did a lot of farm work, established the country. My grandfather died in 2019 at age 96. He was born in Bhutan.”

But in 1989, the government of Bhutan implemented a “one nation, one people” policy that forced the practice of Drukpa culture through a compulsory dress code and the end of Nepali language instruction in schools. There was violent resistance, and agents of the government destroyed houses and forced many ethnic Nepalese off of their lands by having them sign “voluntary migration certificates.”

“Basically, it was ethnic cleansing,” Nabin said. “We lived in a refugee camp in Nepal for 15 years. I was born there in 1993. Our main goal was to go back to Bhutan and claim our land, but the government made my grandfather sign a paper to sign his property back to the government.”

Nabin said most of his neighbors in the camp didn’t have the space to grow their own food and many went hungry.

“My parents went to school and they were educated. They were teachers. They could afford to go outside the camp and teach. Everyone has the right to be able to access healthy, reasonably priced food,” he noted. “I don’t think it’s fair for people in Conrad to have to drive to Marshalltown or a different town just to get a bag of groceries.”

The International Organization for Migration, (IOM) and the UN’s third country resettlement process, helped the Khadkas relocate to the U.S.

“We didn’t know where to go, so we filled out a form. It was a random process of us coming to Iowa. We didn’t know anything about America. We came to Des Moines on Nov. 18, 2008.”

The brothers were able to finish high school and attend college. Nabin graduated from ISU with a degree in mathematics and has worked in banks. Prabin is also an ISU alum and is in the U.S. Army Reserve. His first business was a liquor store in Moline, Ill. Chandra, who is actually their cousin, has relocated to Iowa from Vermont to help run their businesses.

“In my culture, there is no word for cousin. There is only brother. So we are all like brothers,” Nabin said.

Hometown Capital Group bought Conrad Hometown Foods in 2019 after longtime owner Lyndon Johnson retired.

“We got together and pooled our money and came up with the equity contribution and then we partnered with GNB Bank, Grundy County REC and INRCOG (Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments). Grundy County Economic Development put a funding package together to be able to purchase it at that time. It was a pretty broad-based partnership,” said Hometown Capital Group managing member Shane Tiernan. “It was never our intention to own it long-term. We wanted to get it back in the hands of being family-owned and operated.”

Conrad Chamber-Main Street is excited to welcome the Khadka family to town.

“The grocery store has been an essential business on our Main Street for many years, and residents and businesses alike have come to rely on it,” said Board President Jacey Lehman. “Conrad is very fortunate the Khadka family has committed to our town, and we look forward to having a family-owned and operated grocery store for years to come.”

Nabin said the store will remain open during the transition, and shoppers can expect an almost immediate increase in the store’s inventory. They welcome feedback about the types of products customers would like them to carry.

“I want to be there as the manager. At least for the first few months I plan to be there four to five days a week to meet with the vendors. We might even get an apartment there to do the renovations we need and want,” he said. “I want to be involved in the local community.”

For Nabin, achieving success as an entrepreneur is the embodiment of the American Dream.

“If you work hard, you can achieve anything here,” he said. “When we came to the States, my dad didn’t even have $100 in his pocket. My parents worked hard. We worked hard and went to school. That’s the beauty of America. If you’re persistent and patient, one day you can reach your dream.”